It’s just over a year since our holiday from hell. A few days into a break in Gran Canaria, I became very ill. Immediate life-saving surgery was required. But hey, I had platinum travel insurance with a reputable company. Medical costs up to £3million were covered, so what could go wrong? Plenty, as it turned out.

Initially, I was diagnosed at a private clinic. A payment of €500 was required before being allowed to sit down. Things went downhill from there. The surgeon, scalpel in one hand, credit card machine in the other, informed me the cost would be €25,000. It quickly became apparent, £3million cover or not, our insurers were baulking at the cost. At 4.30pm on a Friday, my increasingly frantic and distraught wife was asked to obtain two years medical records from our GP practice in Aberdeen.

At the end of the day, the insurers got the result they were probably looking for. The surgeon decided things had become critical, and I was moved to the nearest public hospital – 40 miles away. The life-saving surgery was carried out around midnight.

The Association of British Insurers reports its members deal with around 500,000 travel-related claims each year. Around half the £400million cost is for emergency medical treatment. The Post Office also reports that large numbers of travellers consciously skimp on insurance. An unbelievable 22% travelled “completely uninsured,” while 27% went “without the correct cover.”

Why do people do it? Some might say I had a super-duper policy and a fat lot of good it did me. To be fair to our insurers, they did get us home and we were able to claim back considerable sums for post-operation medication and other expenses. Left to our own devices, it would have been a challenge to get home; for example obtaining the crucial fitness-to-fly paperwork.

Cost is certainly a factor when travellers chance their luck. Sure, insurance can be expensive, but not when set against the overall cost of a holiday. Never having a problem on umpteen previous holidays doesn’t protect you from disaster on your next. There’s truth in the saying, if you can’t afford insurance, you can’t afford the trip.

Some see the UK Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic) as a medical get out of jail free card. True, its predecessor the Ehic, entitled me to surgery and hospitalisation in Gran Canaria. But, it’s never enough in itself, only providing baseline treatment at local level. It doesn’t meet the cost of repatriation (dead or alive), lost luggage and cancellation. Nevertheless, it’s still worth having one and taking it with you.

As the holiday season approaches, there has been the usual crop of horror stories. The scariest being the elderly Scot who suffered a heart attack and stroke in the US. With hospital costs approaching $1million, his insurance company played hard ball, citing an “undeclared, pre-existing” medical condition. My GP has personal experience of someone selling their house to meet non-insured overseas medical costs. Lesson one: tell your insurers about absolutely everything in your medical records.

A cheap option, such as cover via a bank account or credit card, might seem attractive. Caveat emptor – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. For example, does it cover all family members and for what?

Money expert, Martin Lewis, provides excellent advice on travel insurance. One of his strongest recommendations is to read your policy very carefully. Yes, yes, I know it’s boring, but it’s certainly worth the effort. Many who wouldn’t normally bungee jump, scuba dive or ride a moped, find them irresistible on holiday. Careful reading of the small print on their policy might dampen their enthusiasm. Some policies are even invalidated if a mishap is alcohol-related. Falling down the taverna steps perhaps.

As we found out, you only discover how good your policy really is when making a claim. It’s also true many insurers actively seek ways of denying claims or paying out as little as possible. Nevertheless, as the Along Dusty Roads website warns, “Anyone who doesn’t buy travel insurance, really is an idiot.” Happy holidays!