Gateshead motor retailer Vertu has sealed a multimillion-pound insurance payout in the wake of the cyber attack at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The five-week shutdown at JLR, believed to be the most damaging cyber attack in British history, triggered widespread disruption across the firm's systems. As well as affecting production and supply of vehicles to dealers, it affected retail platforms used by franchised partners, including Team Valley's Vertu Motors, the UK's fourth-largest automotive retailer.
Insurance claim settlement
Vertu has announced it has settled a successful claim for insurance following last September's cyber attack. The total claim recovery has been agreed at £3.9m, against which a £500,000 policy deductible applies, resulting in a total net insurance recovery to the group of £3.4m. In a stock market statement, the firm said: "Vertu Motors, a leading UK automotive retailer, announces that it has been notified by its insurers of a successful settlement of the group's business interruption insurance claim relating to the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover Limited in September 2025, which temporarily disrupted JLR vehicle supply, parts availability and connected systems used by JLR franchised retailers, including those operated by the Group. The business impact was resolved by early 2026."
Financial impact and recovery
In a trading update last month, Vertu said the group's JLR business has returned to normal operations, and that the anticipated financial impact was expected to be less than the £5.5m previously estimated. A £1m interim payment has already been paid to Vertu, and the full recovery will be recognised as underlying income in the group's results for the year ended February 2026. As a result, Vertu added that adjusted pre-tax profit is likely to be ahead of the current market consensus of £21.6m, with its full year results set to be announced on May 13.
Broader context of the cyber attack
Jaguar Land Rover revealed last November that it lost around £500m during the second quarter of its financial year as a result of the impact of the most expensive cyber attack in British history. Earlier this month, however, the car manufacturing giant announced a bounce back in sales over the last quarter after production resumed. JLR, which is owned by India's Tata, was forced to suspend production across its UK plants for five weeks from September 1 last year. By September 22 it had led to work halting on all of its production lines for three weeks, with staff told to stay at home. All of its facilities, including plants in Solihull, West Midlands, and Halewood, Merseyside, halted output before starting up once more in October.
At the time, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the Department for Business and Trade issued a statement outlining the significant impact on Jaguar Land Rover and the broader supply chain for car manufacturers. With an estimated eventual total damage to the British economy of £1.9bn, the Bank of England also said that the cyber attack was one reason for slower GDP growth.
