Auto Insurance Claims: Massachusetts auto insurance, Do I have to talk to my insurance company?

Question
We moved to MA from WI which does not require auto insurance, although we have always had it.  My husband and I have excellent credit (over 800) and are financially very sound.  Our daughter lives in NY and is going to school.  We had an extra vehicle, which we allowed her to use in NY while she was going to school.  Unfortunately, she rear ended someone (obviously her fault).  The person she hit had almost no damage and did not even take her information and did not file a claim.  However, we are being hounded by OUR insurance for answers even though we are NOT filing a claim.  We were going to fix our car on our own. (My husband is very handy).  They are still insisting on coming to interview us with very threatening tones.  We are confused as to what this is about since we are not filing a claim.  All the letters we have received refer to "the claim" although there is not one.  What could they be looking for?  We are very confused by this.  Are we not allowed to let our daughter use our car because she is not on our policy?  Thank you.

Answer
Pamela,

  First, I must say that Wisconsin, just like all other states does require you to have insurance, or at least be financially responsible when operating a motor vehicle.  Details on Wisconsin's law are available at the Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Hill Farms State Office Building, 4802 Sheboygan Ave., Madison, WI 53702.

  If your insurance company is asking you for details regarding a claim, in most cases, you are obligated to cooperate with them if you are seeking any coverage from them.  So, the worst case scenario here is that the person that your daughter hit is making a claim and your company is trying to defend you, but if you don't talk to them they will just disclaim coverage and not protect you due to your non-cooperation.  It's called a non-cooperation denial.  

  If you do not care that somebody may be planning on suing you and your daughter for negligence, and feel like you can handle it without your insurance being involved, then you can surely ignore your insurance company, but expect that they will not provide you an attorney or insurance coverage if you don't cooperate with them in investigating the claim.

  Also, unless your daughter was specifically excluded, it should be perfectly fine to let her drive your vehicle without jeopardizing coverage.  Finally, I must say that I would need to read your policy in order to be sure about coverage for non-resident students, there could be endorsements that restrict the coverage.  I hope this helps.  Talk to them and give them the facts, it can't cause too much of an increase in premium and probably won't cause any, and the fact of the matter is that the accident DID happen, so just spill it.