Looking forward to that trip away?

Holidays don't always go without a hitch. Each year UK travel insurance companies receive thousands of claims for compensation from unlucky holidaymakers. The most common claims tend to be for lost baggage, cancellation or medical expense.

But there are some others which can only be described as bizzare - so here are our five of the oddest travel insurance claims we've heard:

1. Monkey Business
Malaysian monkeys caused romantic getaway mayhem when a couple returned to their chalet to find their underwear, clothing and belongings strewn across the resort and neighbouring rainforest. Fortunately the travel insurer paid the claim for the clothes-less couple.

2. Toupee overboard
One unlucky pensioner enjoying a cruise found his toupee overboard after a strong gust of wind lifted it off his head and blew it in to the sea. His travel insurance reimbursed him for the cost of his hairpiece.

3. Don't get stung
A careless holidaymaker paid a painful price when he dropped his wallet down a drain in Natanya. The Briton's claim wasn't for his cash or credit cards though - it was for hospital treatment after he reached down the drain to rescue his wallet, and was stung by a scorpion. Luckily, his travel insurance covered the cost of the treatment.

4. The unhappy campers
An unfortunate family had a shock when they were on a camping trip in a remote field in Wales, following a parachutist from a nearby airbase missing his target and landing on their camping equipment, destroying it. The family weren't covered for accidental damage, so unfortunately their insurer did not reimburse them.

5. Swimming smile
Whilst on a cruise, one sickly pensioner lost his false teeth over the side of the ship when throwing up into the choppy seas of the Bay of Biscay. The misplaced dentures were thankfully covered in his travel insurance policy under lost baggage, so his claim was paid.