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Hayden v. Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Co.6/15/2000
void, a duty to defend. Reply Br. of Appellants at 3-4; Suppl. Br. of Pet'r at 5. While MOE recognizes that the general rule against relying on extrinsic evidence to avoid a duty to defend, it urges this court to carve out an exception. However, based on our finding that the duty to defend clearly does not exist based on the complaint alone and without considering extrinsic evidence, we decline to address this issue.
"'Principles of judicial restraint dictate that if resolution of an issue effectively disposes of a case, we should resolve the case on that basis without reaching any other issues that might be presented.'" State v. Peterson, 133 Wn.2d 885, 894, 948 P.2d 381 (1997) (Talmadge, J., concurring) (quoting Manning v. Upjohn Co., 862 F.2d 545, 547 (5th Cir. 1989)); see also Adman Prods. Co. v. Federal Ins. Co., 187 Ill. App. 3d 322, 543 N.E.2d 219, 220-21 (1989) (court avoided extrinsic evidence issue because coverage excluded under complaint's allegations, even without reference to extrinsic evidence).
IV. Conclusion
In sum, we hold that MOE was not precluded from raising additional defenses not cited in its initial denial letter and that, even absent extrinsic evidence, MOE properly denied its duty to defend based on the "loss of use" exclusion. The Court of Appeals' decision is affirmed.
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