This is the opposite of the written material which explicitly distinguishes between mandatory and optional insurance, and explicitly states that it will pay the deductible (excess) amount:
The Insurer will only pay in excess of any insurance which is included in the rental agreement
1) These benefits only apply where the rental company allows You to decline the purchase of additional or optional insurances from the rental company
3) If Your rental vehicle is stolen or damaged, the Insurer will pay any amounts You are responsible for under the rental agreement, including the excess
The above posting was in reply to my last posting, which said:
"I called them up and had a chat with an agent about rental car insurance. He did confirm that the AMEX IDC (international dollar card) insurance covers third-party losses but he was very insistent that AMEX IDC will cover NOTHING AT ALL in the case where the car rental company imposes their own insurance as a pre-condition to renting, even if that insurance is only partial or has a large deductible. This also applies, for example, if CDW is waived or included in the rate. So, it seems to me that this AMEX IDC car rental insurance is actually worthless, given that the vast majority of rentals outside of the US do obligatorily require some form of insurance".
In view of the fact that there is some disagreement on this point I called up American Express IDC in the UK again and the agent to whom I spoke again affirmed that in the case where the rental company or law imposes insurance AMEX IDC WILL COVER NOTHING AT ALL, not even the deductible (excess) it may stipulate. She directed me to the following in the t&c, the very first clause:
These benefits only apply where the rental company allows You to decline the purchase of additional or optional insurances from the rental company.
Curiously, this is exactly the same clause quoted by
mia above. AMEX apparently interprets this clause to mean that none of its benefits apply if the renter can't decline insurance. Of course, if the renter can't decline it, it couldn't be 'optional', but I suppose AMEX interprets it as 'additional' even if it's obligatory. In any case, if anyone else would like to try, please call +44 1273 868 900 and ask to speak to an insurance specialist. I would be curious to know if somebody else can get a different answer.