The thing is Chuck you are talking of a whole different kind of risk.
One may as well be flying an SEP over the N. Pole wearing just one's underpants. Perfectly OK if you have a good heater.
Flying over land, even if it is OVC005 down below, is nothing like as bad. Probably about 99% of Europe, especially the UK, has nothing down there at any given moment. Towns can be avoided with a GPS. Etc.
Ferrying is a dangerous game, especially if ferrying some of the old junk which people buy and want to ship over.
I am sorry to hear of your friend. What was he flying?
Pilots tend to regard what they currently fly as the baseline. I know twin TP pilots who think the minimum for IFR is a twin TP with full KI de-ice.