South Carolina Code of Laws (Unannotated), Title 38 (Insurance), Chapter 59 (Claim Practices). Text fetched from the South Carolina Legislature’s official site (scstatehouse.gov) on August 6, 2026.
Verification note: this section was checked against the official code because it is sometimes cited as a policyholder “private right / remedies” provision. It is not. Its official heading is “Notice and hearing by director or designee; penalties” — it is the administrative enforcement hook for the § 38-59-20 improper-claim-practices list (Department of Insurance cease-and-desist orders and § 38-2-10 penalties). The policyholder-facing money remedy in this chapter is § 38-59-40 (attorney’s fees for an unreasonable or bad-faith refusal to pay), and South Carolina separately recognizes a common-law bad faith cause of action.
Statutory text
If, after due notice and hearing, the director or his designee determines that the insurer has engaged in any of the improper claim practices defined in Section 38-59-20, he shall order the insurer to cease and desist from the practice and may impose a penalty as provided in Section 38-2-10. If the penalty is imposed, the penalty may not be considered a cost of the insurer for purposes of determining whether or not the rates of the insurer warrant adjustment.
HISTORY: Former 1976 Code SECTION 38-37-1120 [1962 Code SECTION 37-591.57; 1974 (58) 2718] recodified as SECTION 38-59-30 by 1987 Act No. 155, SECTION 1; 1988 Act No. 374, SECTION 30; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 723.