Travellers are being warned that they could be leaving themselves exposed if they rely on purchasing insurance independently rather than within a package holiday deal.

AXA insurance have revealed that British holidaymakers and independent travellers can find that there are gaps in their insurance cover – such as problems with flight cancellations or delays, missed connections or the customer being denied boarding.

“Travel insurance has come under some criticism for some of the exclusions in a traditional policy,” said AXA’s Edward Dutton. “In 2006, 21 million travel policies were taken out - if over half of these are not meeting potential requirements then this is something consumers need to be aware of. We hope that over the coming weeks people will look carefully at what they really need and make sure they get the right cover for their holiday.”

In seperate news insurance.co.uk has revealed that Spain is the number 1 destination for British families.

The study by insurance.co.uk revealed that holidays in Spain proved to be most popular with older Britons.