Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning to customers booking their summer holidays.
January is the biggest holiday booking month in the year as Brits look for a bit of sunshine.
But holidaymakers often leave getting insured until just before they go - which isn't an issue unless something happens before you leave.
Whilst you'll be covered when you're actually away, if you can no longer travel, be it to illness or death in the family, you're uncovered.
But Martin says this is easily fixable - by simply ensuring you buy insurance as soon as you book.
Martin wrote: "We need to be blunt. Every year, someone emails us something like 'I've just found I've got cancer, I've treatment lasting three months, I'm due to go on holiday, but they won't refund me.'
"It's upsetting and frustrating but is exactly what travel insurance is for."
If you holiday more than once a year, annual travel insurance wins, as it covers unlimited numbers of trips, but capped at 17 to 90 days per holiday.
However, if you go away once, single-trip policies cost from £6 in Europe or £18 worldwide.
If you just want the cheapest - not factoring in payout record or service - expect to pay from £6 for a seven-day trip to Europe for an individual and from £38 for a family with worldwide cover for a week.
