Britons, in an attempt to get away on last minute holidays are forgetting to take out travel insurance; while some travellers were found to be forgetting to take their passports.

According to the insurance provider, the AA Travel Insurance, many tourists are taking a risk by forgetting to or choosing not to take out insurance. However the insurer warned that by booking late, they are also missing out on the best travel deals.

According to AA Travel Insurance, more than 50 per cent of European single trip travel insurance policies are bought within three days of departure. Frequently some were purchased within hours or even minutes before the travellers board their ferry, plane or train, suggesting that families are increasingly making impromptu travel decisions.

However Christian Young, the director of AA Travel Insurance, points to Foreign & Commonwealth Office figures that suggest 17 per cent of Brits travel to Europe without any cover at all.

He said: People who leave things to the last minute are inevitably going to have less time to be well organised and insurance tends to be at the back of their mind until it's too late. They are even turning up at the travel terminal without their passports, which means they can't go.