Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are often, on DR1, being asked for advice by someone who doesn't know nearly as much as we do. When one offers anyone advice, there is no guarantee that this advice will be accepted or acted upon. If one offers advice to someone who asks, it is incumbent upon us to offer the best and most complete answers possible.
Just because we don't personally know someone who has died when they jumped off a cliff, doesn't mean we should suggest that someone go ahead and jump off a cliff. Just because you haven't heard of anyone going to jail after a traffic accident doesn't mean it hasn't happened or won't happen to the next person who rents a car on a foreign drivers license. Just because your CC company covers this or that, doesn't necessarily mean mine does as well.
Offering someone help or advice is not a contest to see who among us can offer the simplest, cheapest and shortest answer. It's not about saving face when someone else offers a different picture than you have painted. We don't get points when the OP says, "Hey Gringo, that exactly what I wanted to hear and that's how I am going to proceed."
It is about making sure that the OP has enough information to make the best decision for themselves. The facts are that driving in the DR is an activity fraught with both physical and legal peril. The DR is (depending on your source) somewhere between #2 and #5 on the list of most dangerous places to drive and survive. The fact is that you definitely need insurance. Where you get that insurance, how much you choose to pay and what it covers is entirely up to the person making the decision to rent a car in this country. The fact is, that any foreigner who gets into a legal problem here will have their passport seized and their two week vacation will extend many months beyond their expected return date. Tourists need to know these blunt facts when making their decisions. It does them no good if we gloss over or leave out pertinent information.
Just because you are a great driver and have never had a problem doesn't mean that the OP is a clone of yourself. The advice you offer should be for their benefit and geared towards their perspective, not your own.