HARD MARKET RETURNS!!

Reclusive insurance celebrity P/C Hard Market slipped into the U.S. for a brief visit last week but left without promising if and when he might return for an extended period.

“I am having a good time just dropping by, here and there,” the mystery man told an Insurance Journal reporter who caught up with him at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. “I have no urge to hang around just yet.”

The P/C icon, who has been in hiding off-and-on since about 2004, would not give any details about his whereabouts or future plans.

He said it was nice being able to walk the corridors of carriers for a few days unnoticed. “Most of the people now working don’t know who I am,” he said.

As for what he has been doing, Hard Market would only say that he is keeping busy, and while he sometimes misses the roller coaster ride, he has mixed feelings about hopping back on. “I miss having the doctors and contractors get all upset at me. But I don’t miss the brokers and CEOs who took me for granted when I was around,” he said.

He has been accused of taking advantage of people’s misery after 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina and some think that is why he disappeared. But Hard Market shrugged off the criticism. “I’ve got a thick skin. In this business, to some, you’re a hero; to others, a villain,” he said, putting on his sunglasses and turning to leave.

Hard Market did give his fans one ray of hope. “I want to see how the hurricane season goes. Maybe I’ll return for a longer while after that,” he said, looking back over his shoulder as he walked away.

Insurance professionals told Insurance Journal they are glad to hear he is alive and well, even if they are frustrated with how he shows up one day and is gone the next.

“This is the new paranormal,” said Hugh Gudderbeekiddunme, CEO, Iamsure Specialty. “Get used to it.”

Sally Surple, a Chicago wholesaler broker who happened to be at the airport, said she could not believe her good luck in catching a glimpse of the celebrity. “I have been in the business for seven years and have never seen what he looks like,” Surple said. “Boy, the folks back at the office are going to be so jealous. I snapped a photo.”

Told that Hard Market said he is waiting to see how the U.S. hurricane season plays out, Manny Mainstreet, an agent from Miami, told Insurance Journal he knows what to do now. “Pray for storms,” Mainstreet said.