Since my very basic AmEx card doesn't have car rental insurance, I signed up for this program. It is activated when you use your card to rent a car . $24.95 ($17.95 for Calif. residents) per rental.

https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do?intlink=premiumprotecthub_browsepromos_pcrpmonitoring&inav=PROT_TRAVEL-Car_Rental

We rented a car through kemwel for our trip to France last Fall. The car was rented through Europcar. There was damage done to the car, which was our fault. We received a charge on our AmEx bill for just over $900, including foreign exchange fees as the damage was billed in euros.

All I had to do was dispute the charges on my account (did that online) and the charges were suspended pending investigation.

Then I filed a report over the phone with The insurance division that handles AmExs rental car coverage. I could have done it online, but it was easier for me to do it on the phone. This was done the first week of November.

AmEx handled the rest of the work. I was notified every 30 days of the progress (or lack thereof, as Europcar was not providing any paperwork to them). Each monthly AmEx statement indicated the amount still suspended.

I was notified today that all of the charges related to damages, fees etc had been credited to my account and that I had a zero balance with no money due.

Great service on AmEx's part and it was the best $24.95 I ever spent. Not a penny out of my pocket and no hassle. Very different than another rental claim through VISA. That was months of hassle and work on my part to get them to pay.