They just didn't expect a "pony ride on the beach" to be classified as an extreme sport Complete for what ? Should they be asked if they are going to go for a pony ride along the beach ? How would you even know unless the opportunity presents? and what if you change your mind and think, you know what, I might like hike to this waterfall and you slip on some rocks and hurt yourself badly, is that classified as an extreme sport ? It's purely voluntary to contribute to the gofund me their husbands employer has set up, they are paying for it themselves, they are going public to issue a warning to others to be more diligent and using their experience to highlight assumptions about insurance. To out myself, I don't bother with travel insurance at all but do have access to $100K cash in an account and can sell down a bunch of shares if I need more. There's a reason Warren Buffet makes money, he takes the insurance premiums people pay his companies and invests on the stock market, he's not getting rich paying out. Sounds more like unlucky then crazy.. Of course if you fall off the horse you need to get back on :) so good luck to her and a speedy recovery.