insurer wants to know how many staff we employ for the policy

Number of employees indicates premium and risk

The insurer uses the number of employees primarily to calculate the premium and assess the risk. With liability insurance or absence insurance, the premium often depends directly on the payroll or number of FTEs: more staff means greater exposure to damage, absence, or claims. With cyber policies, the number of employees also plays a role as an indicator of the organisation's size and thus the type of risk. It is therefore not a control question about your business operations, but a calculation factor for the policy terms.

The figure you enter should preferably come from an objective source rather than an estimate. The number of active persons registered at the Chamber of Commerce is such a source: that count is fixed and verifiable by the insurer. If your internal count differs from the Chamber of Commerce registration — for example due to many temporary workers or self-employed persons — it is wise to be able to explain that difference, even if not every questionnaire explicitly asks for it. This topic often touches the same questionnaire as the financial health of the company, because insurers use both pieces of information to form an overall picture of the enterprise.

Where that data comes from: the Business Register

The registration of the number of active persons at an enterprise follows from the Trade Register Act 2007: this is one of the data recorded for every registered enterprise. This makes it a verifiable fact rather than an estimate, and that is precisely why insurers often ask for it instead of an internal HR figure. Note: this is different from the question about the company's bank or credit information, which may appear in a separate section of the questionnaire. Compare that, for example, with the question about the company's banking relationships, which asks for a completely different type of proof than a staff number.