Don't forget your travel insurance!

According to the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), a travel insurance policy taken out prior to heading off on holiday "is as important as your suitcase".

However, this does not get anywhere near close. Plenty of holidaymakers, after all, lose their baggage either as a result of their own carelessness or, far more likely these days, through the fault of their chosen airline.

Either way, it may be a headache but it is hardly the end of the world; simply pop into the first shop you stumble across for a bag-load of toiletries and a couple of outfits and get on with your well-earned break: damage done, approximately a couple hours of beach-time lost and perhaps £50 at most.

Try breaking a leg or getting food poisoning abroad, however, and it could set you back thousands and even mean you spend your time away seeing nothing other than a foreign hospital.

A trip to the Rockies for a spot of Stateside skiing which ends in a bout of bronchitis – admittedly unlikely, but nevertheless – would require up to seven days of hospital care totalling around £20,000, making even the steepest travel insurance policy seem like a bargain in comparison.

Despite the potential cost of holiday mishaps being common knowledge among British travellers, a significant proportion still clearly prefer to take the risk of saving a few pounds by neglecting to take out any cover at all.

Graeme Trudgill, technical and corporate affairs executive at the British Insurance Brokers Association, commented: "We think around a quarter of people don't have travel insurance which is a big, big worry.

"We would say that travel insurance is as important as your suitcase…..the costs are enormous if you go abroad and have a medical injury, especially if you are doing some winter sports, like skiing."

On top of this 25 per cent, a large number of travellers unfortunately fail to check what is and is not covered by an insurance policy, preferring instead to opt for the cheapest package or simply tick a box on a website.

Many standard policies, for example, do not cover hazardous sports including nearly all winter sports, horse-riding or sailing, with packages purchased from travel agents notorious for falling short where it matters.

Given that around 27 per cent of travellers opt for the ease and cheap cost of purchasing insurance at the same time as their package holiday or cheap flight, there are potentially millions of Britons hitting the slopes this winter without adequate cover, with high street agents all too happy to make a bit of money on the side regardless of the implications for their customers.

Savvy travellers, therefore, must not only remember to take out travel insurance well before setting off for the airport but also make sure their policy provider holds a qualification recognised by the Financial Insurance Authority. And they must remember their suitcase too.