By James McNair
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Midland Co., the Amelia insurance company that covers manufactured homes, boats and recreational vehicles, said Tuesday it expects to post up to $15 million in losses from Hurricane Isabel.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that the damage from last week's hurricane will top $1 billion.

Isabel, which came ashore in North Carolina and swept through Pennsylvania and New York into Canada, stands to become one of the 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history.

Midland executives said the company sent 38 adjusters into the affected states and set up two temporary offices to take customers' claims. The company said it expects payouts to result in a pre-tax loss of $10 million to $15 million.

"Nobody likes to see these events, but we're in the business of taking care of the policyholders," said John Von Lehman, Midland's chief financial officer.

Through its American Modern Insurance Group subsidiary, Midland insures manufactured homes, boats, motorcycles, RVs, collectible automobiles and snowmobiles. Of its $180.9 million in property and casualty premiums in the second quarter of 2003, $85.2 million came from manufactured-home policies.

"It's half their business," said J. Paul Newsome, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.

"They almost certainly will have some exposure because they're in some of those states, and manufactured housing is very prone to a hurricane."

In the spring, Midland estimated it would take a roughly $18 million hit from tornadoes and thunderstorms in the South, Southwest and Midwest in April and May.

The losses tallied $19.5 million by the time the company reported its second-quarter earnings.

E-mail jmcnair@enquirer.com.