At The Arndt Law Firm, we understand the unique challenges faced by guests who have been injured while staying at an Airbnb or vacation rental in Summerville, SC. As this charming area continues to see a rise in short-term rentals, it’s crucial for both hosts and guests to be aware of the responsibilities involved. When accidents occur due to unsafe conditions on a rental property, South Carolina premises law provides a pathway for victims to seek justice and compensation.
Our firm is dedicated to representing injured guests in Summerville and the surrounding Lowcountry area. A successful claim hinges on understanding not only the complexities of host liability but also the intricacies of platform insurance and the coverage that may apply. We want to ensure that our clients are informed about their rights and the potential for recovery, especially given South Carolina's statute that allows recovery if a party is 50% or less at fault.
Hosts have a legal duty to maintain a safe environment for their guests, and this essential responsibility starts with providing adequately cared for properties. From the condition of stairs and walkways to safety features like smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms, hosts must take reasonable steps to mitigate foreseeable hazards. Our goal is to navigate these legal obligations effectively, ensuring that our clients understand the standards of care that should be upheld.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury at an Airbnb or vacation rental in Summerville, we encourage you to reach out to us. Our experienced team is here to guide you through the legal process and advocate for your rights.
A paying guest will generally qualify as an invitee when the visit is connected to the owner’s business and provides a benefit to the owner. South Carolina premises law requires reasonable care for an invitee’s safety, including reasonable steps to discover and address foreseeable unreasonable hazards.
This duty has real content in the short-term rental setting. South Carolina imposes smoke-detector requirements on covered rental dwellings, but violation of that statutory article does not itself create a negligence or negligence-per-se cause of action. Liability for a fire injury must therefore be analyzed under any independently applicable duty and the surrounding facts.
Carbon monoxide exposure can create a premises claim depending on the source of the hazard, applicable codes, notice, and the host’s conduct. Any specific detector requirement should be confirmed for the property involved. A host who rents a property to strangers is responsible for ensuring that the stairs are sound, the railings secure, the walkways clear, and any amenities like pools, hot tubs, decks, and grills reasonably safe.
A host cannot simply hand over the keys and disclaim responsibility for the condition of the property; the duty to provide reasonably safe premises runs with the rental. A rental agreement or waiver does not automatically determine liability. Whether an exculpatory provision is enforceable depends on its language, the circumstances in which it was agreed to, and South Carolina law governing contractual limitations of liability.
A guest’s unfamiliarity with the property may be relevant to the circumstances surrounding a hazard, but the governing premises standard remains the duty of reasonable care owed to an invitee.
Short-term rental injuries arise from a recognizable set of hazards, many tied to the features that make these properties appealing. Falls are the most common, from defective or poorly lit stairs, slippery surfaces, uneven flooring, and unsecured rugs. A fall on a defective stairway can cause serious injury, particularly to a guest unfamiliar with the layout.
Water features and amenities are a frequent source of serious injuries. Swimming pools and hot tubs carry drowning and slip risks, particularly when they lack required safeguards or are poorly maintained, and decks, balconies, and porches can fail when they are not properly built or maintained. Grills, fire pits, and outdoor features add burn and injury risks that a host is expected to manage.
Other hazards round out the picture. Carbon monoxide from faulty heating or appliances is a hidden and potentially fatal danger when detectors are absent or non-functional, and defective furniture, inadequate lighting, and unmarked hazards around the property cause injuries to guests who do not know the space. Negligent security can also be an issue at a rental in an area where foreseeable criminal activity was not reasonably addressed. Each of these turns on whether the host met the duty to provide a reasonably safe property.
A short-term-rental injury may involve liability coverage associated with the booking platform. Still, the existence, limits, exclusions, and claims procedures depend on the program and policy in effect for that particular reservation. The applicable coverage should be confirmed before stating specific limits or exclusions.
Coverage connected to the booking platform may have significant limits. The specific terms, including when and how it applies, can vary depending on the program and policy in effect for the reservation. Exclusions and administration procedures should be confirmed for each situation. Determining which coverage applies is a key part of the claim process.
Beyond the platform coverage, the host may carry other insurance. Many hosts hold short-term rental policies or homeowner's coverage. However, standard homeowner's policies often exclude short-term rental activity, which can create disputes about whether the host's personal insurance responds. Identifying every potentially applicable policy, the platform coverage, the host's short-term rental or homeowner's policy, and any others, is central to a short-term rental injury claim, because the available coverage determines what the injury can actually recover.
How these claims are handled can present challenges for an injured guest. The platform, not the host, typically administers claims under its own policy, and the guest is not a named insured. In serious cases, platform coverage may be insufficient, requiring a review of the host’s own insurance or other available coverage. Identifying and pursuing all applicable insurance sources is necessary to address the full scope of the injury.
Coordinating multiple sources of insurance is a central aspect of short-term rental injury claims. Unlike many business premises cases, these claims may involve platform insurance, the host's policy, and other possible coverages, each with its own terms and limits. Identifying all potential sources early is important to ensure the available coverage is fully understood and accessed.
Summerville spans both Dorchester and Charleston Counties, so the proper courthouse for an injury case depends on where the injury occurred. A case arising on the Dorchester County side may proceed in the First Judicial Circuit at the Dorchester County Courthouse in St. George (5200 E. Jim Bilton Blvd., St. George, SC 29477), while a case arising on the Charleston County side may proceed in the Ninth Judicial Circuit at the Charleston County Courthouse in Charleston (100 Broad St., Charleston, SC 29401).
Summerville’s location in the Charleston metro area influences its short-term rental market. The town attracts visitors to its historic downtown, events like the Flowertown Festival, and as a base for exploring Charleston and the Lowcountry. Many guests may be unfamiliar with the property and the area.
Visitor traffic in Summerville increases during certain times of the year, such as the Flowertown Festival and azalea season, while Charleston-area tourism keeps many rentals occupied throughout the year. Guests injured during a visit may need to act quickly to document the hazard and injury before leaving the area or before the property is rented again.
South Carolina follows modified comparative negligence. Under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., an injured guest may recover when they are 50 percent or less at fault, although the award is reduced by their percentage of fault. Recovery is barred at 51 percent or more. The host's insurer will look for any basis to assign fault to the guest, such as arguing the guest misused an amenity or ignored an obvious hazard.
As in any premises case, the open-and-obvious defense is common, with the insurer arguing the guest should have seen and avoided the hazard. South Carolina courts consider whether a condition was open and obvious, but visibility does not automatically defeat the claim, particularly when the host created the hazard or the layout made avoidance impractical. A guest unfamiliar with the property is in a different position than someone who knows the space, which bears on what the guest could reasonably have been expected to notice.
Because partial fault reduces the recovery and majority fault defeats it, establishing the host's failure while minimizing any share attributed to the guest is central to the case. The guest's unfamiliarity with the property, the host's duty to warn of hazards, and the specific condition that caused the injury all bear on the fault analysis, and developing those facts is what protects the recovery from an inflated fault assignment.
The host is the primary defendant in most short-term rental injury claims, as the party responsible for the condition of the property and for meeting the duty owed to guests. But the host is not always the only responsible party, and identifying every potential defendant is part of building the case. When the property is managed by a property management company, that company may share responsibility for maintenance and safety depending on its role.
Other parties can bear responsibility depending on the circumstances. A contractor whose defective work created a hazard, such as a poorly built deck or faulty wiring, can be liable, and a manufacturer can answer for a defective product like a heater that produced carbon monoxide. Where the rental is part of a larger building or community, the entity responsible for common areas may be a defendant when the injury occurred in a shared space.
Sorting out these relationships matters because it determines which insurance is available. A serious injury at a short-term rental can exceed the platform's coverage, and identifying every responsible party and every applicable policy is what allows the claim to reach the full coverage the injury requires. The investigation that maps the host, any management company, contractors, and the relevant insurance is the foundation of a complete claim, and it is often what separates a recovery that addresses the full harm from one limited to the first source that comes to hand.
The steps a guest takes after an injury at a short-term rental can determine whether a claim succeeds, and some are specific to the rental setting. The first priority is medical care, both for health and to document the injury at its origin, which matters especially for a visitor who may be far from home and tempted to delay treatment until returning. Getting evaluated at a Summerville-area facility creates the medical record the claim depends on and protects against an argument that the injury was minor.
Prompt documentation is important because the property may change quickly. If possible, photograph the hazard, surrounding area, lighting, and any missing safety features before anything is altered. Report the injury to the host and through the booking platform to create a dated record. Collect the names and contact information of any witnesses.
After the incident, keep the reservation confirmation, the listing as it appeared at booking, and any communication with the host. These documents can help establish what the host knew or represented. Avoid providing a recorded statement to insurers or platform representatives without first understanding your rights. Preserve medical records and expenses, and seek advice early so evidence is not lost or changed.
| Coverage source | When it may apply | Notes |
| Platform host liability (e.g., AirCover) | Injury during a platform-booked stay where host is liable | Up to $1M; excludes intentional harm; platform administers |
| Host's STR or homeowner's policy | Depends on policy terms and rental activity | Standard homeowner's policies often exclude short-term rentals |
| Property manager's coverage | When a management company shared responsibility | Depends on the manager's role and contract |
| Contractor or manufacturer coverage | When defective work or a product caused the hazard | Adds another potential source of recovery |
You can bring a claim against an Airbnb host if you were injured because of an unsafe condition that the host failed to address. Hosts owe paying guests a high duty of care to keep the property reasonably safe.
Airbnb’s host liability coverage may provide up to one million dollars in compensation if the host is found legally responsible for a guest’s injury during a stay booked through the platform. This coverage is subject to specific terms and exclusions.
If you booked directly with the host instead of through Airbnb, platform insurance coverage usually does not apply. In that case, the host’s own insurance policy would be the primary potential source of compensation.
In Summerville, you generally have three years from the date of injury to file an Airbnb injury claim. If a government entity is involved, different deadlines may apply. It is important to confirm the correct deadline for your situation, different deadlines may apply. It is important to confirm the correct deadline for your situation.
You can recover compensation if you were fifty percent or less at fault for your injury. However, your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault, and you cannot recover if you are found to be more than fifty percent at fault.
The Arndt Law Firm approaches every Summerville short-term rental injury by establishing the host's duty under South Carolina premises law, documenting the hazard before the property is altered for the next guest, and identifying every applicable source of coverage, from the platform's host liability insurance to the host's own and any property manager's policy. Because attorney Arndt previously defended insurers, the firm understands how these claims are evaluated and contested and builds them to reach the coverage the injury requires.
If you were hurt at a vacation rental in Summerville or anywhere in the tri-county Lowcountry, acting early protects the evidence, because the property keeps being rented and a hazard can be repaired or hidden before the next guest arrives. T
he consultation is free; short-term rental injury cases are handled on a contingency basis with no fee unless there is a recovery, and the booking records and physical evidence that prove these claims are most available right after the injury. Reach out through our contact page to discuss what happened, and see how these rules apply across the state on our South Carolina Airbnb injury page.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
Content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
