Six or more parties may be joined initially as plaintiffs in a single action if their claims involve common issues of fact and arise out of the same transaction or occurrence or the same series of transactions or occurrences. On motion of a defendant, the actions so joined shall be severed unless the court finds that the claims of the plaintiffs were ones which, if they had been filed separately, would have met the standards of § 8.01-267.1 and would have been consolidated under § 8.01-267.3. If the court orders severance, the claims may proceed separately upon payment of any appropriate filing fees due in the separate circuit courts within sixty days of entry of the order. The date of the original filing shall be the date of filing for each of the severed actions for purposes of applying the statutes of limitations.