Custom media liability insurance deployed in under 30 days for 4,000+ contractors
The country's second-largest commercial property firm replaced their EOR with 1099Policy — covering content creators and brand activators across nationwide events.
The company
Simon Property Group manages a nationwide portfolio of malls and commercial properties, and engages more than 4,000 independent contractors a year to bring those spaces to life. That contractor base spans two very different profiles: content creators and influencers working alongside the marketing team, and specialty vendors — painters, builders, and activators — staffing special events. Both groups had the same requirement: get on-site and producing fast, without exposing the brand.
The challenge
A widely reported copyright lawsuit over music used in influencer videos put the risk of creator content squarely on the radar of the company's legal and marketing leadership. Much of the contractor base lacked proper insurance, and there was no mechanism to confirm whether content produced in malls and event spaces created media liability exposure for the brand.
The existing answer was an Employer of Record (EOR) — but the cost of routing creators and gig-based activators through an EOR was high and poorly matched to the actual risk these modern roles carried. The team needed a faster, cheaper way to make sure every contractor was covered, without slowing production schedules or piling more onto compliance.
"Can you also support media liability?"
That question, raised in an early workers' compensation conversation, defined the engagement.
The solution
The company came to 1099Policy looking for an alternative to its EOR strategy, initially for workers' compensation. When the conversation turned to media liability, 1099Policy built a custom product for it — purpose-built for content creators operating in public-facing, IP-sensitive environments.
The coverage was deployed through CreatorIQ, the platform the team already used to manage creator workflows. 1099Policy's API embedded insurance enrollment and compliance tracking directly into the existing onboarding flow, so a creator picks up coverage in their own name as part of the same intake that captures their other paperwork. The integration required only minimal technical lift.
The results
Media liability exposure covered for 100% of content creators, in their own names, tied to each engagement.
Costs reduced by roughly 50% for this population by replacing the EOR.
Built and deployed in under 30 days, from product concept to live coverage.
Fewer legal reviews and brand-protection audits, with compliance confirmed inside the tools the team already uses.
With the marketing and special-events teams live, the company is now exploring how to extend 1099Policy coverage across additional contractor categories and seasonal activations.
Why it matters
For brands that activate through creators and gig vendors, insurance can't live in a separate portal or arrive days after the work is booked. Embedding coverage where contractors are already onboarded turns compliance from a bottleneck into a default — and, when the off-the-shelf product doesn't exist yet, the right partner builds it.