do I need to indicate whether I rent the premises or own it

Ownership or lease: simply state the facts

Enter what is actually the case: ownership, lease, or another form such as leasehold or a lease arrangement. This is not a risk assessment on your part, but information that the insurer needs to determine the correct insurable interest and appropriate coverage — in the case of a lease, the risk on the building is often (partly) with the lessor, and the insurer needs to know this before drawing up a policy or assessing a claim. Any uncertainty about the precise legal form should not remain with you as a business: consult the lease or purchase deed, or the notarial deed in the case of ownership, and copy the description from there literally.

Evidence that insurers often want to see in this connection are the ownership deed or an extract from the Land Registry in the case of ownership, and the lease agreement with term in the case of a lease. If you do not have this at hand immediately, then "ownership, proof to follow" or "lease, contract to follow" is a workable answer — better than guessing. This subject is separate from the business data already established in the trade register, such as registered address and legal form; these two matters are sometimes mentioned in one breath in questionnaires but are legally different. Similar factual questions, such as what is the average payment term to suppliers, follow the same logic: first the source document, then the answer.

Where this comes from: registered address from the trade register

The basic information about a business's establishment — address, place of establishment — is established under the Trade Register Act 2007. The ownership status of the building itself, however, is not included there; this is not trade register data but a civil law fact that appears from the ownership or lease deed. Insurers ask about this separately, apart from the client due diligence they conduct under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act regarding, for example, the ultimate beneficial owners of the company — that client due diligence is about who controls the business, not about the real property. It is therefore advisable not to confuse this question with UBO or sanctions questions that may appear in the same questionnaire.