Tesla appears to be preparing a major quality-of-life improvement for its insurance customers. According to a de-compilation of Tesla App version 4.51.7 by Tesla App Updates on X, hidden within the app’s code is what looks like a fully built Safety Score dispute system—one that could finally give drivers a way to challenge false or “phantom” driving events that impact their Tesla Insurance premiums.
While the feature is not yet live for users, the completeness of the code suggests it is far beyond an early experiment. Instead, it appears to be a dormant system waiting for Tesla to enable it on the server side.
A Long-Standing Pain Point for Tesla Insurance Users
Tesla Insurance relies heavily on the company’s Safety Score, which evaluates real-world driving behavior to calculate premiums. Over the years, many owners have complained that inaccurate alerts—such as phantom Forward Collision Warnings or overly sensitive braking detections—have unfairly lowered their scores, often resulting in higher monthly costs with no clear way to appeal the decision.
The newly discovered Safety Score Disputes feature appears designed to address exactly that frustration by introducing a formal appeals process directly within the Tesla app.
How the Safety Score Dispute System Works
Based on the app’s internal code strings and UI references, drivers would be able to browse their driving history and select a specific trip where a false event occurred. From there, they can categorize the issue, with references pointing to disputes tied to specific triggers such as collision warnings or anti-lock braking system activation.
The most significant addition is support for evidence uploads. Tesla App 4.51.7 includes media handling for common video and image formats, including .mov and .mkv files. This strongly suggests that drivers will be able to submit Dashcam footage to support their claims.
If implemented as intended, this would allow drivers to demonstrate situations where alerts were triggered by parked vehicles, shadows, glare, or other non-threatening scenarios.
Tracking Appeals Inside the App
The dispute feature also includes a built-in tracking interface. Code references point to separate tabs for pending, approved, and denied disputes, giving users visibility into the review process and clarity on how each appeal is resolved.
This structure goes well beyond a simple feedback form and instead resembles a formal claims review system embedded directly in the Tesla app.
Why This Update Matters
For Tesla Insurance customers, this could be a significant shift. Until now, algorithmic errors could raise premiums with little transparency and no recourse. By allowing drivers to dispute individual events—and support those disputes with video evidence—Tesla is effectively giving owners a way to correct scoring errors that could otherwise cost them hundreds of dollars per year.
A Subtle Nod to Recent Safety Score Changes
The introduction of this appeal process could have been developed due to a lawsuit the company has been facing. Earlier this year, Tesla quietly removed Forward Collision Warnings from the Safety Score formula altogether, following legal scrutiny tied to a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the metric unfairly inflated insurance premiums due to false positives.
Although Tesla has not explicitly linked these changes, the decision to eliminate its most contentious metric alongside the introduction of a formal appeals process suggests the company is rethinking how Safety Score accuracy and accountability are handled.
