Reports suggest that millions of people go abroad without travel insurance each year, some in the mistaken belief that they have free cover with their credit card.

But consumers are warned to avoid getting trapped in fee-charging, credit cards which offer free travel insurance, because most offer only “travel accident insurance”.

This may have the words “travel” and “insurance” in close proximity, but actually refers to a very limited personal accident insurance policy, which at worst will pay out only if you die as a result of an accident while you are getting into, travelling on, or getting out of a plane, boat or train during a journey you paid for with that card.

 Brian Brown of Defaqto, the financial research company: “If you get sick, that’s not an accident, so you’re not covered, if the accident is caused by your bad heart, you’re not covered, if you fall over on the beach once you’ve reached your destination, you’re not covered.”

One danger, according to Brown, is that cardholders fail to read the small print, and confuse travel accident insurance with proper comprehensive travel insurance.

Experts say that a truly comprehensive travel insurance policy should cover medical expenses, up to £2m if you are travelling in Europe, much more if you plan to visit North America.