The decision took effect from last Friday afternoon. Aviva said it had paid out £500,000 in insurance claims related to coronavirus, which ‘presents a new uncertainty in 2020’.

Admiral and Direct Line also decided to temporarily suspend the sale of travel insurance to new customers.

LV=, the British insurer owned by German insurer Allianz, said it would pause the sale of travel insurance.

Aviva said: “The ongoing global situation with coronavirus means there’s much greater likelihood of disruption to people’s travel plans, so we’ve decided to focus our attention on our existing customers.”

Several governments have banned visitors from other countries to slow down the spread of Covid-19.