We solve all this (eliminating surprises and confrontation) by pre-booking and pre-paying with www.rentalcars.com.
We have never been required to pay for anything else at the pick-up point ... other than a one-way drop-off fee in a few cases (and about which we have been well forewarned).
If you have a credit card then paying a deposit because you have your own insurance may never show up on your statement as the rental company just usually gets an approval for the amount of the deposit (which does reduce your available credit) but does not put through a charge using the approval unless you return the car damaged. So if you return the car undamaged all the happens is that the approval expires in a fortnight or so unused so you never see anything on your statement which only shows actual charges. However if you have a debit card then it will be an actual charge for the deposit, followed by a refund if you return the car undamaged, which is never cheap if it involves foreign exchange, if the rental company will even accept debit cards, which a lot do not.
The only way you can use a Debit card to rent a car is to pre pay and include all the Insurance bringing the deductible to zero. Very few operators actually offer the option and tend to be top priced.
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