But those risks are determined by the underwriters normally right?
They do seem to come up with some very, very strange decisions for policy loading in quite a few cases, but it really does depend on the insurer.
Facts dictate risks.......statistics dictate your premium.
Its harder to individually tailor someones risk by paying an experianced underwriter to look at the facts than it is to run them through an automated 'risk model' to determine the premium.
My guess is (although some of Olly comments do make me wonder about this theory) thats why some smaller insurers like Sky can give you specifically better (if your facts say your low risk) or specifically worse (if your facts say your low risk) quotes - they use experienced people to assess the risk.
Run the same profile through a generic insurers automated quote model and you'll get a generic premium based on statistics.
Bottom line though to produce massive profits and generate huge volumes insurance companies go down the easy route so we all get tarred with the same brush.