Whether it is going on that adventure holiday or packing up for a few days in a caravan, it is worth taking some time to ensure that, like the vast majority of breaks taken ever year, yours is problem free.

Travel insurance is generally bought as a standard package to cover a wide range of risks (subject to certain limits and exclusions). Commonly, these include events such as:

• the cancellation or curtailment of a trip

• expenses due to a delayed departure or loss of baggage

• medical emergencies

• loss or theft of money, a passport or personal possessions

• personal accidents

&149 personal liability

Sold either as a single-trip policy, an annual multi-trip policy or an 'ongoing' policy, travel insurance policies vary dramatically both in terms of price and scope of cover, so it is worth checking that your policy meets your needs rather than automatically going for the cheapest policy.

An annual travel insurance policy can be more cost effective than single-trip policies for more frequent travellers. However, if you do have an annual policy, make sure it covers the requirements for each of the holidays you intend to take.

We have seen cases where consumers have focused on the needs of their first break when taking out an annual policy, and later booked up a more expensive or adventurous holiday without checking that their existing policy covers the planned activities.

Also, consider having the policy in place from the time you book the holiday; an important part of travel insurance is the cover it provides in the lead-up to going away.

Travel disputes referred to the ombudsman service often centre on whether a particular event is covered by the policy and whether relevant information had been 'disclosed' to the insurer.

Last year, the majority of travel complaints referred to the service related to unpaid claims for holiday cancellations. Many of these claims arose out of the ill health of someone who was planning to travel – or one of their close relatives.

This happened to Miss J, who booked a holiday to Greece and took out travel insurance at the same time. In January – five months before the holiday – her father was diagnosed with a heart condition. He responded well to treatment and soon appeared to be back to normal. But just a few weeks before she was due to fly out, his condition deteriorated and Miss J had to cancel her holiday.

The insurer turned down the complaint as it said that Miss J should have cancelled her holiday when she first became aware of her father's condition. However, in the circumstances we did not agree.

Her father had responded well to treatment in January and there had been no reason at that time for her to think she would need to cancel her holiday. We upheld the complaint and required the insurer to reimburse her for the cost of the holiday.

As well as complaints about the cancellation and curtailment of holidays, we continue to see claims about medical expenses, loss of baggage and items left unattended. Mr N was sitting on a bench at a subway station in New York when the person sitting next to him engaged him in conversation for a couple of minutes. When he looked down, he discovered that his rucksack – containing more than £2,000 of personal possessions – had been taken.

He made a claim and was told that as he had left his bag unattended he was not covered. We did not agree. We felt that it could not be said that the bag was unattended when Mr N was next to his bag at the time it was taken.

Although the Financial Ombudsman Service continues to receive a wide-range of travel insurance cases, it is reassuring to know that for the second year running the number of disputes referred to it about travel insurance has fallen. We hope that this reflects both improved claims and complaints handling by insurers, and also growing consumer understanding as to what is – and isn't – likely to be covered by travel insurance.

In the unlikely event that you do have a problem, the first step in complaining is to raise the problem with the firm in the first instance – the vast majority of complaints can be resolved without the ombudsman service needing to become formally involved. However, if the matter is not resolved in eight weeks, you can refer the complaint to the ombudsman service on 0845 080 1800 or www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Happy holidaying!

Emma Parker is a consumer expert at the Financial Ombudsman's Office