Last reviewed: 15 September 2026

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South Carolina's 2024 fix for the auto-renewal blind spot

Our auto-renewal clauses guide notes that roughly two dozen US states have their own general automatic-renewal statute, with requirements that vary and need checking state by state. South Carolina is worth naming directly: since May 2024, it has a notice requirement written specifically for a service contract — not just a general consumer-goods auto-renewal law reaching this product by implication.

The base structure: one chapter, one registration, three ways to prove you can pay

South Carolina Code Title 38, Chapter 78 (Service Contracts), administered by the South Carolina Department of Insurance, defines "service contract" broadly enough to cover a home system, a motor vehicle, and even a vehicle's tires and wheels under one statute — rather than splitting products into separate categories the way California does. Section 38-78-30 requires annual registration (a $200 fee, expiring each September 30) and lets a provider demonstrate financial responsibility one of three ways: a reimbursement insurance policy, a funded reserve account, or — an option shared with Illinois and New York — a net worth of at least $100 million held by the provider or its parent, verifiable through the company's own SEC Form 10-K or 20-F, or audited financials if it doesn't file with the SEC. A financial security deposit of at least 5% of gross consideration received (less claims paid), but not less than $25,000, is required in trust with the Director as well.

What's new: a service-contract-specific auto-renewal notice

S.C. Act No. 159, signed by the governor and effective May 20, 2024, added § 38-78-55 directly to this chapter, alongside a parallel general-consumer-goods provision (§ 37-6-120) enacted the same day. It makes an automatic-renewal provision in a service contract unenforceable against the contract holder unless the holder received written or electronic notice — 30 to 60 days before the cancellation deadline the renewal provision itself sets — that conspicuously discloses three things: that the contract will renew automatically unless canceled, the dollar amount that will be charged on renewal, and how to get details of the renewal and cancellation procedure. Because it's written into Chapter 78 itself, with its own defined "automatic renewal provision" term added to § 38-78-20, this is a narrower and more specific rule than a general state consumer auto-renewal statute reaching a service contract only by not excluding it.

What this means for a South Carolina buyer

If a South Carolina home warranty or vehicle service contract renewed and charged you without that specific 30-to-60-day notice, the statute's own text says the renewal provision isn't enforceable against you — a concrete, checkable remedy tied to a specific document you either did or didn't receive, not a general fairness argument to make after the fact. Keep any renewal notice you do get, and the date it actually arrived, since the statute's window is measured against your own contract's cancellation deadline, not a fixed calendar date.