Now, to be condescending ;) (Parents had a house in Malta, so I speak with the authority of someone that used to go there), malta is a disorganised Italy. Looking at the cars on the Island you are lucky the car has tyres with any tread never mind legal tread depth.
I'm half Italian, so understand the strength of that statement. The driving here seems pretty dicey so we went with the extra collision protection. Having said that when you drive like everyone else it starts to make sense.
I thought that was your obligation with a hire car.