Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Of course, the renter is personally responsible for damages to the rental car. If the car rental company is able to charge the renter's credit card, it may do so, but would have to be prepared to submit the same type of proof to justify the additional charge as would be required for the insurance claim. If the rental company failed to do so, the additional credit card charge could be disputed. And if the insurance coverage were provided by the credit-card issuer, I would just tell that to the credit card company.

From the.terms of the free car rental coverage that comes with my Amex card:

"All ... payments ... are payable to the Cardmember; except that payment may be made, at the discretion of the Insurer, jointly to the Cardmember and the Commercial Car Rental Company when the Car Rental Company has not been reimbursed for the covered loss or damage, or the Cardmember has not validly assigned his/her payments to the Rental Company or any other party." To me, this indicates that Amex contemplates situations where the car rental company will not have been reimbursed prior to the issuance of payment on the insurance claim, and/or that the insured would have assigned his benefits to the rental company.

Optional coverages sold by car rental companies make sense for some people sometimes; but they do not make sense for everyone all the time.