Workers' comp and liability for your freelance creators — without the EOR markup or the W-2 conversion.

Increasingly, yes. State labor regulators in CA, NY, NJ, and MA require WC coverage for any worker performing labor on an engagement — even when classified as 1099. The NY Fashion Workers Act (Q3 2026) makes this explicit for stylists, photographers, makeup artists, and production crews. Without WC in the creator's name, the brand engaging them becomes the de facto employer for liability purposes.

Not when the policy is in the contractor's name. 1099Policy issues coverage to the creator as the named insured — the brand or agency is added as a blanket additional insured. That's the legal opposite of an EOR arrangement, where the employer-of-record assumes the W-2 relationship. Courts, the IRS, and state regulators treat "coverage in the contractor's name" as a key indicia of independence.

The creator's policy responds first. WC covers medical, lost-wage indemnity, and rehab — paid directly to the creator at no cost to them. The brand's separate GL and additional-insured status protect against secondary liability. Without coverage in the contractor's name, the brand typically becomes responsible for medical bills and faces misclassification audit risk.

Yes. Per-gig, per-day, and annual options are all available. A creator who opts in once is automatically covered for every engagement that flows through 1099Policy — across multiple brands and agencies — using the same underlying policy. The blanket additional-insured structure lets each new brand engagement attach without re-underwriting.

Effective Q3 2026, any agency engaging models, stylists, makeup artists, photographers, or production crew must document workers' comp coverage at the start of each engagement. Coverage must be active during the engagement and verifiable on demand. 1099Policy's API delivers compliant COIs in seconds and stores audit-ready records by default.

The creator — always. Their name is on the COI, the carrier holds the policy in their entity, and claims pay out to them. The brand or agency is added as additional insured so they're protected against third-party claims arising from the engagement. The underlying policy never makes the brand the employer-of-record, which is what preserves 1099 status.