Guideone Elite Insurance Co. v. Fielder Road Baptist Church

joined by Chief Justice JEFFERSON, Justice O’NEILL, Justice GREEN, and Justice JOHNSON.

In this declaratory judgment action, we are asked to create an exception *307to the complaint-allegation or eight-corners rule. The eight-comers rule provides that when an insured is sued by a third party, the liability insurer is to determine its duty to defend solely from terms of the policy and the pleadings of the third-party claimant. Resort to evidence outside the four corners of these two documents is generally prohibited.

The trial court, relying on evidence extrinsic to the policy and pleadings,…