Premiums for the Planet tackles growing insurance crisis in Park City

Photo: Premiums for the Planet

PARK CITY, Utah — Rising wildfire risk, shrinking snowpack, and shifting weather patterns are driving insurance costs up — or making coverage unavailable — for mountain towns like Park City. On Thursday, local business leaders joined a webinar hosted by the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau and Premiums for the Planet to address what organizers called an “existential challenge” for communities built around tourism, recreation, and small business.

“Insurance is the invisible backbone of a community, and that backbone is cracking,” said Nick Gardner, co-founder of Premiums for the Planet, a certified B Corp focused on building resilience through collective action. “When insurance disappears, families leave, businesses close, and communities unravel.”

During the webinar, Gardner shared that, according to the Utah Insurance Department, homeowner premiums in the state increased by nearly 20% last year, marking the sharpest rise in the Western United States. For wildfire-exposed homes, annual costs can now exceed $6,000. The squeeze has also affected the ski industry: insurance expenses for ski areas have increased by 164% since 2013.

Scott House, vice president of partner services at the Park City Chamber, said the issue has become central to the Chamber’s work in convening local businesses. “If you can’t protect your business from risk, you can’t be successful,” House said. “This is the first step in building a coalition to make a meaningful impact on insurability in mountain towns.”

Premiums for the Planet argues that part of the problem lies in how insurers invest the billions of dollars collected through premiums. Too often, Gardner said, those dollars are reinvested in carbon-intensive projects that drive up climate risk — the very risk that insurers then cite when pulling back from high-risk communities. “We are paying to mitigate risk,” Gardner said, “but that money is being invested in things that create risk.”

The group proposes an alternative model: pooling premiums from local businesses to negotiate better terms, stabilize coverage, and redirect funds toward resilience projects, such as retrofits, defensible space, and clean energy. By collaborating, organizers say Park City can leverage its size and leadership reputation to influence insurance markets and serve as a blueprint for other mountain towns.

“Alone, no business or household has leverage with the insurance industry,” Gardner said. “Together, we do.”

The webinar drew participation from the Park City Community Foundation, Resilient America, and other local and national partners. Attendees were asked to begin by filling out a short intake form that identified where insurance had failed them and what they valued most in future coverage.

For the rest of 2025, Premiums for the Planet plans to gather that input and map out gaps across homes and businesses. In 2026, the coalition aims to launch practical solutions, from negotiated group policies to resilience-funding initiatives.

House compared the work ahead to the town’s grueling Point-to-Point mountain bike race. “You don’t start in a sprint because you won’t make it,” he said. “This is about getting off the line at a steady pace and helping each other along the way.”

Gardner said Park City’s collaborative spirit makes it well-positioned to lead. “At a time when it feels like there are a lot of problems happening all at once, this provides a platform to come back together and address a shared challenge,” he said.

The next steps include follow-up meetings this fall and continued community engagement leading into 2026.