insurer wants to know in which countries we do business how do I answer that

Countries of establishment versus countries of activity

The insurer usually does not ask here about export or customer base, but about where the business is legally established: head office, branches, subsidiaries. This is different data than in which countries does the company have operations at first glance seems to overlap with "where do we supply" — a business can have customers in fifteen countries and yet be established in only one country. For the coverage and premium of a liability or business insurance, the country of establishment is what matters, because that is where liability law and supervision apply.

Answer therefore with the countries where the business has a registered establishment, not with all countries where it does business. If you are in doubt whether the insurer is asking more broadly — including countries with only turnover, without establishment — then that is a question you raise separately with your contact at the insurer, not something to fill in yourself. If there is also a question about the type of coverage with this question, it is often close to does the enterprise have liability insurance for businesses — check whether that is a separate part of the list or the same question in a different form.

Source: the business register as source document

The countries of establishment of a business follow from the registration in the business register, as provided for in the Trade Register Act 2007. A Dutch business with foreign establishments has usually also had them registered with the Chamber of Commerce, as a branch or part of the legal entity. If the business has subsidiaries with their own legal personality in other countries, these are not in the Dutch business register but in the local equivalent — collect that information separately, because one source does not automatically cover the entire group.