Gan Techiong JC:

Introduction

[1] Is a subrogation clause in an insurance contract sufficient to empower an insurance company (the insurer), using its own name, to sue a party who had contracted with the insured, for breach of contract or to sue a tortfeasor who caused the insured to suffer a loss? It is trite that a subrogation clause in an insurance contract gives the insurer a right to compel the insured to sue a tortfeasor or the party who breached a contract with the insured, as the case may be, and for the insurer to receive the damages recovered. However, does a subrogation clause in an insurance contract give an insurer a right to use its own name to sue the other party? Is an absolute assignment necessary to clothe the insurer with a right to sue in its own name? These two questions of law arose because there is no privity of contract between an insurer and the party who breached a contract with the insured, and if the insured has suffered a loss allegedly due to the negligence of a third party, the tortfeasor will plead that he does not owe the insurer any duty of care.

[2] In this case, the aforesaid questions of law arose in the Defendant's application to strike ou