The magazine analysed 73 insurance providers late last year and found few were offering cover when the FCDO advised against travelling.

Which? said insurers were confusing customers about the level of Covid cover they provided.

It said: “Since March 2020, most insurers have considered the pandemic a ‘known event’ and excluded FCDO cancellation cover from new policies and for newly booked trips.”

The survey found customers with policies bought after March 2020 were more likely to believe they were covered for this type of disruption than ones that had bought policies before then.

It added: “While some insurers give upfront information about how extensively they protect against Covid-related disruption on their webpages and in their FAQs, some providers only state key benefits that their ‘Enhanced Covid Cover’ provides and are less clear about what is excluded.”

Which? said insurers should be clear about when cover was provided “and not bury exclusions in their FAQs”. It called for the Financial Conduct Authority to act.

“The FCA should also issue guidance to providers on the use of blanket terms such as ‘Covid Cover’ and ‘Enhanced Covid Cover’, which often overlook what kind of cover is not included – without qualifying them clearly,” Which? said.

“Doing so would help consumers to make a much more informed choice when booking a trip abroad, and could save them money.”