Is home insurance the same in Trabuco Canyon, Silverado and Rancho Santa Margarita?

The four ZIP codes that serve Trabuco Canyon, Silverado and Rancho Santa Margarita held 5,655 FAIR Plan policies on September 30, 2026. On September 30, 2022, the same ZIP codes held 1,694, so the Trabuco Canyon area's count climbed 234%, while California's rose 150%.

The Trabuco Canyon ZIP code 92679, which also covers Coto de Caza and Dove Canyon, accounts for 3,517 of those policies. That put the Trabuco Canyon ZIP code 15th among California ZIP codes for FAIR Plan policies on September 30, 2026.

Silverado's 92676 stands apart. In 2022 the Plan insured 77.9% of Silverado's covered homes. On September 30, 2026, the Plan rated all 607 of its Silverado policies High for wildfire.

Rancho Santa Margarita's 92688 started from almost nothing: its FAIR Plan count was 61 at the end of September 2022 and 1,531 on September 30, 2026.

In 2022 the Plan covered 0.7% of insured homes in Rancho Santa Margarita's 92688. On September 30, 2026, it rated 3% of its Rancho Santa Margarita policies High for wildfire.

Trabuco Canyon's second ZIP code, 92678, has no row in the FAIR Plan's files, so it adds nothing to these counts.

Of the four, only Silverado's 92676 kept a flag the FAIR Plan carries when the September 30, 2026 file came out. The Trabuco Canyon ZIP code 92679 and Rancho Santa Margarita's 92688 had carried it on March 31, 2026.

On September 30, 2026, the Plan rated 31% of its policies in the Trabuco Canyon area's four ZIP codes High for wildfire, compared with 37% statewide. The Trabuco Canyon area's ZIP codes had 1,771 non-renewals outside the FAIR Plan in 2023, 9.9% of the total, while California's rate was 8.7%.

That 2023 figure counts every non-renewal, the Department of Insurance notes, including owners who sold or chose a new insurer.

Very close. The Airport Fire started on September 9, 2024, at Trabuco Canyon and Rose Canyon. Its CAL FIRE page, last updated October 6, 2024, gives 23,526 acres across Orange and Riverside counties, 160 structures destroyed and 34 damaged.

Two days after the fire began, the Governor's September 11, 2024 emergency declaration started a one-year moratorium under Bulletin 2024-9. In 92676, 92678, 92679 and 92688, a home policy could not be canceled or non-renewed over wildfire risk for that year, and the protection has ended.

The Bond Fire started in Silverado Canyon on December 2, 2020, and burned 6,686 acres. Its CAL FIRE page, last updated December 17, 2020, lists 31 structures destroyed and 21 damaged. The Department of Insurance's list of moratorium declarations does not include it.

Two years earlier, the Holy Fire started in Holy Jim Canyon on August 6, 2018, and burned 23,136 acres. CAL FIRE's page, last updated October 25, 2019, lists 24 structures destroyed.

Our moratorium guide explains how to see whether a ZIP code is covered after the next fire.

Orange County's Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance 25-015 on August 26, 2025. It set the state's recommended 2025 fire hazard zones for locally protected land in unincorporated Orange County, replacing a 2012 ordinance that had mapped only Very High zones.

Where the state is responsible for fighting wildfires, its own zones apply, adopted April 1, 2024. The State Fire Marshal's acreage table counts 101,968 Very High acres of that state land in Orange County.

In a Very High zone, new buildings must use the fire-resistant features in Chapter 7A of the California Building Code, the county's map page says. You can find the zone for one address on the state's viewer.

Rancho Santa Margarita handles its own map. A city presentation dated June 25, 2025, says the state's recommended map put about 70% of the city in a moderate, high or very high zone.

The Department of Insurance titled its April 4, 2025 alert "CAL FIRE hazard maps do not affect insurance rates or availability." Each insurer scores a house with its own wildfire model instead, the alert explains.

The 2026 Fire Risk Reduction Community List includes three local names. They are the City of Rancho Santa Margarita, the Trabuco Canyon Water District and the Orange County Fire Authority.

The Fire Authority says it serves all unincorporated areas of Orange County. The Board of Forestry approved the 2026 list on June 17, 2026.

A discount sheet the FAIR Plan revised in November 2025 ties a community discount to homes in listed communities and Firewise USA sites. Ask the Plan how that applies to your address, because its sheet says discounts can change.

Trabuco Canyon and Silverado are unincorporated, and so is Coto de Caza, by the county planning department's district pages. There, renting a home for stays under 30 days takes a county short-term rental permit under Zoning Code section 7-9-93, adopted July 28, 2020.

The permit must be renewed every two years and ends when the home changes hands. An ADU may not be rented this way, and overnight guests are limited to two per bedroom plus two.

Rancho Santa Margarita is a city with its own code, and that code has no short-term rental section in the version codified through October 8, 2025. Ask the city's planning staff before you list a home there.

The county's rule says nothing about insurance, so get your insurer's answer on paying guests in writing before you list a home.

Standard insurers should look first. Specialty insurers come next and write many homes the standard market turns down, and the FAIR Plan steps in when neither will.

A non-renewal has to come with warning. California sets the minimum gap between a notice, mailed or delivered, and the policy's last day: at least 75 days (90 days beginning January 1, 2028).

FAIR Plan dwelling rates are 29.1% higher on average for new policies and renewals on or after October 15, 2026. Some homes see more than that, and some see less.

Our page comparing alternatives to the FAIR Plan shows what else to ask about.

If a fuller policy is approved mid-year, you can end the FAIR Plan policy early, in writing, once the new one is in place.

Have these on hand before you shop.

• The declarations page and the rebuild amount it shows.
• Dated photos of brush clearance on the slopes around the home.
• Permits or receipts for any roof, vent or window upgrades.
• The year the home was built and the dates of major remodels.