§ 13-20 Damages - Collateral Source Rule

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Civil (SCBar) (2016 Ed.)

§ 13-20 Damages - Collateral Source Rule

The collateral source rule provides that compensation received by an injured party from a source wholly independent of the wrongdoer will not reduce the amount of damages owed by the wrongdoer. In other words, under the collateral source rule, if an injured plaintiff receives compensation for his injuries from a source wholly independent of the defendant, the payment should not be deducted from the damages which he would otherwise collect from the defendant. A defendant is not entitled to have the damages for which the defendant is liable reduced by proving the plaintiff has received or will receive compensation or indemnity for the loss from a collateral source, wholly independent of the defendant. A defendant may not benefit from the fact that the plaintiff has received money from other sources as a result of the defendant's wrongful conduct.

The only requirement for qualification as a collateral source is that the source be wholly independent of the wrongdoer. A source is wholly independent of the wrongdoer when the wrongdoer has not contributed to it and when payments to the injured party were not made on behalf of the wrongdoer.

In applying the collateral source rule, South Carolina allows the plaintiff the benefit of both gratuitous benefits and nongratuitous benefits arising from employment, insurance, or other contractual agreements. A benefit directed to an injured party should not be shifted so as to result in a windfall for the wrongdoer. The wrongdoer may not be benefitted by collateral payments made to the person he has wronged. It is the wrongdoer's responsibility to compensate the injured party for all the harm that he causes, not the net loss the injured party receives.

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