Auto Insurance Claims: Small Claims court - can file multiple claims?, diminished value appraisal, rental car reimbursement

Question
QUESTION: Hi Richard,
About a year ago, my wife's car (5 month old Mercedes) was broadsided at high speed in a parking lot.  Our insurance company handled repair of the car, but we incurred just over $3,000 in rental car expense which is still unrecovered and had a professional Diminished Value appraisal at just over $5,000.  The other person's insurance (Farmers) would only admit to 70% fault, so we signed up with an attorney for recovery.  Just recently, after doing barely anything on the case the firm told us they weren't representing us anymore (thank goodness, they were horrible), basically because there wasn't enough personal injury to make it worth their effort.  

I would prefer to file for recovery in Small Claims court, but there is a $5,000 limit in Texas and we couldn't recover all the rental car reimbursement and diminished value which is all we really want.  My question is, would it be possible to file one claim in Small Claims court for the rental car reimbursement, then file another for the Diminished Value?  I found another attorney who is exceptional at these property damage cases, but I'd prefer Small Claims if I could do it that way.

Thanks so much for all your help, not just answering my question but so many others.

ANSWER: Hi Richard,

I am not an attorney so you will need to verify this with a local attorney.

I would think that since all of the damages (ie; injury, rental car & diminished value) stem from the same incident, you would have to file them as one law suit. You may find that when you file the law suit the insurance company may suddenly be interested in discussing a settlement and will want a signed release prior to cutting any checks.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Richard,
That does help - thank you very much.

Let me ask this: Apparently, there are two separate people at Farmers who are handling the case, one deals with the rental car portion and the other deals with the the main claim.  Would it be possible to settle ONLY the rental car expense with the rental car guy (without waiving rights to file suit for the other expenses) then file small claims for the rest, or will they not pay anything without wanting me to waive everything?
Also, I believe when your car gets wrecked you are entitled to a rental "of comparable quality" and the closest we could find to my wife's new $65,000 Mercedes was a Infiniti G35 which was $100 a day.  If the rental reimbursement guy says that they will only pay some nominal amount, like $20 a day, what's the best approach/pressure to get him to honor the "comparable quality" standard?  I wish it was a state insurance statute or something.

Again Richard, thank you for your kind help.

Answer
Hi again Richard,

Actually, in most jurisdictions you are entitled to a "comparable vehicle".  Most courts have held that a "comparable vehicle" means a vehicle that is similar in function and utility, not similar in stature or class. So the insurance company would only be required to provide a vehicle that could carry the same number of passengers and or cargo from point A to point B. You will not likely be awarded $100.00 per day if they can show that a similar size and function vehicle was available for $30.00 per day.

As for your other question, it would be fine to settle each claim seperately but they will likely ask for a full release of all claims upon settlement of either which would then bar you from pursuing anything else.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh