SOUTHEAST NEWS ZONE......

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin announced the arrest of Ashley C. Waddell, 39, of Greensboro.

According to the investigation, Waddell, who owned International Loss Services in Greensboro, took $89,314.52 in insurance claims payments intended for her clients. Farmers Insurance Company originally issued the payment to Waddell's client for damage caused by a house fire in Wake County

Waddell, a licensed public adjuster, is charged with felony embezzlement, obtaining property by false pretense and writing a worthless check.

She was initially taken to Guilford County Detention Center and held under a $40,000 secured bond. Additional charges are pending.

• A former Floridian has created a wind deductible elimination plan for homeowners in the Sunshine State, providing them with an opportunity to avoid paying large liabilities in the face of a catastrophe. And, for every policy the company sells, it will make a donation to the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund.

Ken Gregg, chairman and chief executive officer of Citon Insurance, launched Zero Select last year to insurance agents at the end of Florida’s hurricane season. In conjunction with the official start of the 2009 Hurricane Season, Gregg has now unveiled the new web site ZeroSelect.com to educate consumers about their potentially devastating liability.

According to Gregg, the idea for Zero Select resulted from a conversation he had with a friend in Melbourne, Fla., after Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in 2004. The friend had purchased property for $30,000 20 years prior, but was required to pay a $50,000 deductible before the insurance carrier would pay for the repairs to his property after the 2004 hurricane.

Gregg spent two years developing Zero Select, which is available to all residential and commercial property owners in the state and covers deductibles up to $2 million and above. (Only mobile homes and properties in Monroe County are exempt.) Since Zero Select was first introduced at the end of hurricane season last year, over $30 million in coverage has been written on the policy.

Zero Select covers 100 percent of the deductible, Gregg noted, shifting most of the burden to Citon, saving homeowners and property owners alike from having to write substantial checks.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, at least one hurricane strikes Florida every two years, on average, since 1900, and a Category 3 or stronger storm strikes the state every four years, on average. Eight of the 10 most expensive hurricanes ever to make landfall in U.S. history hit Florida, causing more than $60 billion in insured losses. (Hurricane Andrew in 1992; Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne in 2004, and Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005).

In addition, the Insurance Information Institute notes that the value of insured coastal property in Florida ranks first in the United States and now exceeds $2 trillion.

More information on Zero Select and Citon Insurance is available by calling: (888) 317-2544 or at http://www.zeroselect.com/.