Paxboy,
Absolutely - if you are going to buy then buy an annual policy.
But I have been travelling very extensively for over 10 years and I have never had a cost that I would have been able to claim on a travel insurance policy, so in that time I have saved a couple of thousand quid by not buying travel insurance. Which is more than I can see incurring for any non-medical event. I stand by my assessment that I prefer to keep the insurance companies' profits myself.
By the way, travel insurance is a very UK (and Anglo-) market thing. Mention it to people from many other developed countries and they haven't a clue what you are talking about. Such is the power of advertising and scare-mongering in the UK.