I could tell you tales of 20ft waves, gale force winds or complicated windsurfing manoeuvres. I could turn it into a long convoluted story about how I risked my life to save that of a small child. Or I could just tell the truth.

My disastrous windsurfing attempt ended roughly five seconds after it began with me flailing hopelessly in a sea of blood; embarrassed, humiliated and in agony. It all adds to that laid back holiday feeling, doesn’t it?

Travel insurance and medical care were the last thing on my mind when just days earlier I’d grabbed my suitcase, jumped on the next train to Gatwick and headed off on a last minute sports holiday in Greece.

But luckily travel insurance is included as a perk on my current account and I’d taken five minutes to dig out the policy document and throw it in my bag. And my European Health Insurance Card (EHIC for short) – mustn’t forget that, not that I was going to need it. It was only a week in Greece playing tennis and getting back on a windsurfing board for the first time in years – what could possibly go wrong?

Fast forward three days and I’m in the first aid room of the holiday resort clutching the remains of my nose, there’s blood everywhere and I think I might pass out. Despite the fact that (in my opinion) I’m just seconds away from death all the first aid lady is concerned about is whether I have an EHIC card. She seems intent on confirmation and evidence of this before she takes me to the hospital.

The EHIC is free and entitles Brits to the same medical treatment as received by the locals in the country they’re visiting – basically the country’s NHS - as long as it’s within the EU. It used to be called the E111 and you can get it online.

The EHIC isn’t a substitute for travel insurance; instead it’s designed to complement it. Travel insurers like you to carry the card and will often waive the excess on claims if you have one. Did I mention it's free (I did)? Yes, it's free and it can as good as save your life, or stop you worrying about hospital bills when you're busy worrying about broken bones.

I was lucky. Firstly because despite being banged square on the nose by the windsurfing mast as I fell backwards off the board, I hadn’t actually broken anything. Secondly, because the EHIC covered my trip to A&E, x-rays, antibiotics and some antiseptic cream.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the first time I’d come a cropper while abroad. Two years earlier I’d gone backpacking around South Africa and had gone on a camping safari in Kruger National Park. All was going well until it became apparent – and I won’t go into details here – that I’d eaten something dodgy. Very dodgy. The trouble was I was in a tent on a campsite with no electricity, a two-hour jeep ride from civilisation.

This time my travel insurance came in handy. I ended up spending 12 hours in hospital on a drip while various tests were done. Luckily it wasn’t anything more serious than a bad bout of food poisoning but while I lay in my hospital bed I was imagining all kinds of things. I was in a malaria area for starters and malaria pills are never 100% reliable. Secondly I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of the hospital – I had very little cash on me and the safari had carried on without me, so it looked likely that a long taxi ride to meet the rest of the group was a possibility. Fortunately I got the all clear from the doctors and the safari company kindly sent someone to pick me up, but all the time I was lying there pondering my sorry situation I was glad I had travel insurance.

But lots of people get in worse scrapes than me and many of them aren’t covered. Each year thousands of people jet off on holiday without insurance or even an EHIC. But by doing so they’re running the risk of getting into serious financial trouble if things go wrong. About a third of travel insurance claims involve medical bills, while other common claims are for lost or stolen baggage, cancellation of flights, lost or stolen money and travel delay.

Medical bills in some countries, especially the US, can run into tens of thousands of pounds for things that appear fairly straightforward such as broken bones. And that’s before you have to be repatriated back to the UK which can cost thousands of pounds again.

You can buy an annual worldwide travel insurance policy for as little as £30 or so why not? Take it from me, the next time you find youself far from home alone in a foreign hospital you’ll be glad you’re covered.