How far could a car realistically travel without a sump plug

Question

need an opinion because of an insurance issue.

I hit a bump in my car, about half a mile later it stopped, apparently seized.

Insurance have had it for a long time, and have had two separate experts look at it, but have now claimed it's an attempt at insurance fraud as a result of their findings.

They found the sump plug missing. They claim that there's nothing to show that this was related to the bump. I accept that there's probably not enough damage to conclude that, but here's my question:

How far could it have travelled without the plug? The oil drained into the undertray, and went everywhere, basically. I feel like a car drained like this wouldn't run very far at all.

Answer 1

If the sump plug was simply missing, that is, the oil pan and threads are intact then I find it extraordinarily unlikely that a bump, no matter how severe, would cause it to unscrew.

If, however, the oil pan is damaged, the plug is "ripped out", the threads damaged, with clear indication of impact, then yes, the bump may have caused it.

If it's the former, then perhaps the last time the oil was changed the plug was not properly tightened and the bump caused it to unscrew that last little bit and fall out. If would have happened eventually but the bump just sealed its fate.

As far as how long can the car travel without oil? Generally not far but this really depends on many things.