When purchasing insurance you pay the insurance company a monthly payment, known as a premium, to carry a portion of your risk. Since the insurance company is basically carrying the risk of you suffering a loss, they have implemented strict criteria to assess people's risk profiles. A number of factors are involved when working out a risk profile. Some of these include age, gender, claim history and various other aspects depending on whether you are taking out short-term, life, medical or other types of insurance. Claims history is probably one of the major factors that insurance companies use to calculate your risk profile. The premiums insurers receive monthly are not the only way that they make money. Insurance companies also get additional income by underwriting other insurance companies or investing premiums received. The interest from these investments is sometimes actually the main source of income for insurance companies.