Before you sign up for travel insurance, read your plan's policy when it comes to OTAs. There are plans that may still provide some coverage if your destination has an amber, red or black OTA alert, whilst others strictly do not.
Example 1:
You're required to fly off to a high-risk country where armed conflicts are currently happening in certain locations. You arrive at the capital and find that it's business as usual, with no sign of any conflict at all. Unfortunately, you trip and break an arm while on your way to a meeting. Since your injury isn't related to the reason for the OTA alert, your insurance may cover the expenses for your treatment if your policy has medical cover.
Example 2:
In another scenario, an OTA warning has been issued because of a civil war. You're at the airport and armed men are firing at civilians. You get injured in the skirmish. Can you make a claim? Since acts of war and terrorism are common exclusions in policies and because your injury is related to the reason for the OTA alert, which you ignored,, this may not be covered by your insurance.
Some plans may provide additional benefits when the insurance plan was bought before a black alert was issued for a particular destination. Other plans may provide extended coverage when there's a black OTA alert. This may include additional travel delay coverage, loss of deposit or trip cancellation coverage, and trip curtailment coverage.
The key is to carefully read through your plan's policy for situations when an OTA alert is announced for your chosen destination.