Small Businesses Can't Afford to Wait on Tort Reform...
- SCCLR Newsletter
- Mar 12
- 2 min read
By: Diane Hardy
When I opened my small business in Greenville, I expected long hours, tight margins, and constant problem-solving as a reality of running a local business anywhere in South Carolina. What I didn’t expect — and what I now hear every day as executive director of the Mom and Pop Alliance — is how rising insurance costs are becoming a significant concern for small and family-owned businesses across the state.
The skyrocketing price of doing business forces small businesses to make tough decisions about how to balance staff hirings, prices, and needed upgrades with the rising cost of doing business. These are not abstract policy debates. They show up in monthly bills and immediately affect how businesses serve our customers and support our employees. We feel every dollar.
Last year, lawmakers took a welcome step in addressing lawsuit abuse and the legal practices that drive insurance costs higher. That took great effort, especially in the face of intense opposition from the deeply entrenched trial attorney lobby, which benefits from keeping the system tilted in its favor. While the reforms mattered, they were a first step, not a full solution. Because lawyers are fighting tooth and nail to keep the lawsuit conveyor belt running, small business owners across South Carolina are still stretched thin by higher insurance.
Here’s the reality small business owners live with: when the legal system encourages excessive lawsuits, inflated claims, and drawn-out disputes fueled by greedy legal tactics, insurance costs rise for everyone. Those costs do not stay in the courtroom. They land on shop owners, truckers, contractors, farmers, and anyone who depends on coverage to stay open.
Trial attorneys are framing this debate as a fight between corporations and consumers, but they leave out a key detail: they’re the ones who benefit from the conflict. As middlemen, they stoke the flames of costly legal battles and walk away with bigger paydays, while business owners and hardworking families are left trying to put out the fire.
Lawmakers now have the opportunity to build on last year’s progress. Measures that put guardrails on claims, crack down on fraud, and limit tactics designed to pressure quick settlements could make a real difference. These reforms would not block legitimate claims, but instead make sure the system works as intended.
A fairer legal climate invites insurers back into the market and encourages real competition. When insurers are competing for business, prices come down, choices improve, and hardworking families are the ones who will benefit.
Small businesses are the backbone of South Carolina’s economy. We sponsor local teams, hire locally, and keep dollars circulating in our towns. Rising insurance costs make it harder for us to do that. When lawmakers act to reduce lawsuit abuse, they are standing up for the residents who keep storefronts open and payrolls running.
South Carolina leaders showed last year that they are willing to take on a powerful interest group. Let’s keep going. Small businesses cannot afford to wait on tort reform.
We are ready to do our part to grow, hire, and invest in our communities. We need a legal system that supports our work rather than making it harder. Continuing tort reform is a necessary step for keeping South Carolina a place where small businesses can succeed.
