Two policyholders1 hereinafter collectively, “Plaintiffs” brought an action for damages and injunctive relief against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. hereinafter “State Farm”. Plaintiffs asserted in the “Breach of Contract” sections of their complaint that they had made first-party physical damage claims and that State Farm had failed to pay them part of the covered losses they sustained. The element of loss they alleged was covered by their policies, and that State Farm did not tell them about or pay, was the diminution in value of their vehicles caused by the fact of the physical damage. In the “Equitable Relief” section of the complaint, Plaintiffs asserted that State Farm, with knowledge of its contractual obligations, and pursuant to a scheme to avoid those obligations, had failed to establish a procedure for handling the diminution in value element of claims, had failed to inform its policyholders of that coverage, and had failed to pay Plaintiffs’ claims. The plaintiffs sought an order requiring State Farm to notify insureds of the coverage or to implement a procedure for handling diminution in value claims, and to honor its contractual obligation to pay diminution in value in first-party physical damage claims presented by its policy holders. Finally, the complaint sought certification of at least two classes of plaintiffs, one consisting of all former or current insureds of State Farm who presented first-party physical damage claims in the past six years, the “Breach of Contract Class,” and one consisting of present insureds, the “Equitable Relief Class.” After State Farm filed an answer and the parties engaged in discovery, the trial court issued an order certifying a class for declaratory and injunctive relief consisting of all current insureds under State Farm policies issued in Georgia. Following another hearing and further discovery, the trial court entered an order in December 2000 declaring that the law of Georgia requires that State Farm pay its first-party physical damage claimants for any diminution in value their cars sustain; that State Farm, once an insured reports a loss, evaluate the claim to determine whether the vehicle has sustained diminution in value; and that State Farm, at the conclusion of the adjustment and repair process, either affirm the presence of diminution in value and pay it, or deny the presence of diminution in value. That order also included an injunction by which State Farm was ordered to evaluate first-party physical damage claims for diminution in value “by an appropriate methodology and procedure,” and either offer to pay it or deny it; to collect, catalog, and maintain any information necessary to make a determination of diminution in value; and to report to the trial court the manner in which it complies with the order. This appeal is from the order certifying the class and the order granting declaratory and injunctive relief to Plaintiffs.
1. We turn first to State Farm’s contention that the certification of a class of plaintiffs for declaratory and injunctive relief was improper. Specifically, State Farm asserts that bifurcation of the class into a declaratory and injunctive relief class and a damages class was improper, that there are no common issues for trial, and that individual issues predominate.
