Third Party Rights - The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 came into effect on 11 May 2000. The Act abolishes the common law doctrine of privity of contract, under which a person who is the beneficiary of a contract between two other persons was precluded from bringing an action to enforce the rights conferred upon him under the contract. The doctrine was developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and towards the end of its life had its most significant effects in the shipping, construction and insurance industries. The repeal of the doctrine allows a person who is not a party to an insurance contract, but who has rights under it, to enforce those rights.