Salt Lake City Corporation Request for Proposals, RFP No. SLCI26001 Claims Adjustment Services

CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE RISK MANAGEMENT DIVISION

I. REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OVERVIEW

Issued By: Salt Lake City Corporation, Purchasing Division Salt Lake City Corporation (the "City") is soliciting competitive sealed proposals from qualified offerors to provide claims adjustment services.

The City’s procurement processes, including this competitive solicitation, are governed by Salt Lake City Code Chapter 3.24 and Salt Lake City Administrative Rules for Procurement Article 53-1A.

Issue Date: Date stated in U3P posting

Question Due Date: Date stated in U3P posting

Close Date: Date stated in U3P posting

Purpose of this Solicitation The purpose of this RFP is to competitively select an offeror or offerors (Offeror or Offerors) to enter into a contract with City to perform the “scope of work” (Attachment 2).

It is anticipated that this RFP will result in a single contract award to the responsive and responsible Offeror with the highest score justified by the procurement code.

Background

Claims will primarily involve no-fault utility claims for property damage arising from water main breaks and sewer backups; and vehicle accidents and bodily injury claims. Last year the City assigned fifteen (15) claims.

Term The contract resulting from this RFP will be for five (5) years.

RFP Contents RFP document (this document) Attachment 1: Sample Agreement Attachment 2: Scope of Work Attachment 3: Cost Sheet Attachment 4: Score Sheet All proposals submitted in response to this RFP MUST be submitted electronically through the Utah Public Procurement Place (U3P) website as detailed in Section III, Proposal Submission, below.

Proposal Submission Deadline: The deadline is the date and time listed in U3P. The upload of all proposal documents MUST be fully complete by the date and time deadline or the proposal will not be accepted.

NO LATE PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

II. GENERAL INFORMATION

a. Sample Agreement. Any contract resulting from this RFP will include, but not be limited to, the Sample Agreement (Attachment 1). Exceptions and/or additions to the Sample Agreement are strongly discouraged and Offerors are advised to resolve these issues within the framework of the Question-and-Answer period. For more information regarding exceptions, please see Section III, Proposal Submission, below.

b. Insurance Requirements. Offerors should review the required insurance coverage and notice of policy cancellation requirements that will be part of the resulting contract(s). Such insurance information is provided under Paragraph 5 of the Sample Agreement (Attachment 1). Proposed pricing must include associated insurance costs. The selected Offeror will be required to provide insurance certificates meeting all requirements at the time of notification of conditional selection.

For insurance policies listed in Paragraph 5 that require Offeror to include Salt Lake City Corporation as an additional insured, you will be required to have the policy endorsed to provide either 30-days “Notice of Cancellation to a Third Party” or 30-days “Notice of Material Change to a Third Party.” A copy of the endorsement must be provided with the Certificate of Insurance. (Note: Either endorsement may be conditioned to allow 10-days notice if the reason for the cancellation is non-payment of premiums).

c. Business Registration with the State of Utah. The selected Offeror must be registered with the Utah State Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. Forms and information on how to get registered may be obtained by calling (801) 530-4849 or by accessing www.corporations.utah.gov. The selected Offeror will be required to have its registration completed prior to signing the agreement.

d. Offerors or their agents are instructed not to contact selection committee members, City officials or employees, or attempt to externally manipulate or influence the procurement process in any way, other than through the instructions contained herein, from the date of release of this RFP to the date of execution of the Agreement resulting from this solicitation. City, in its sole discretion, may disqualify Offerors who violate this paragraph.

e. Offerors or their agents are instructed not to submit any gifts or promotional items with Offeror’s proposal. City employees are not allowed to accept such items regardless of their value.

f. Cost of Developing Proposals. All costs related to the preparation of the proposals and any related activities are the sole responsibility of the Offeror. The City assumes no liability for any costs incurred by Offerors throughout the entire selection process.

g. Interviews. City may establish a date and time for interviews or presentations and shall notify eligible Offerors of such date and time. Offerors invited to interviews or presentations shall be limited to those Offerors meeting the minimum requirements and minimum technical score threshold specified in the RFP. Representations made by an Offeror during interviews or presentations shall become an addendum to the Offeror's proposal and shall be documented. Representations must be consistent with the Offeror's original proposal and may only be used for purposes of clarifying or filling in gaps in the Offeror's proposal. Interviews and presentations will be at the Offeror's expense.

h. Proposal Ownership. All proposals, including attachments, supplementary materials, addenda, etc., shall become the property of the City and will not be returned to the Offeror.

i. No proposal shall be accepted from, or contract awarded to, any person, firm or corporation that is in arrears to the City upon a debt or contract or that is in default, as surety or otherwise, upon any obligation to the City, or that may be deemed irresponsible or unreliable by the City. Offerors may be required to submit satisfactory evidence that they have the necessary financial resources to perform and complete the work outlined in this RFP.

j. Proposal Submission.

Subject to any exceptions Offeror identifies pursuant to subparagraph III(2)(c), Offeror’s submission of a proposal or other offer or submission constitutes the Offeror's agreement to all of the terms, conditions and provisions of the proposal package, or other solicitation documents. By the submission of proposal or other offer or submission, the Offeror represents that the matters stated in such proposal, offer, or submission are true and correct. By submitting a proposal, offer, or submission; Offeror also acknowledges that the Offeror is willing to enter into the agreement if awarded the contract.

By submitting this proposal, the Offeror does hereby offer to perform such services on behalf of the City in the manner described and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the attached proposal. Services will be performed at the rates set forth in said proposal.

By submitting this proposal, Offeror acknowledges that it has viewed all materials published on U3P, including any addenda to this RFP.

k. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received. Furthermore, the City shall have the right to waive any informality or technical defect in proposals received when in the best interest of the City.

III. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

a. U3P Registration and Submission

i. Registration

Registration is required for electronic submission. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to register for notification to receive any changes, corrections, question/answer documents, and addendums issued for RFP documents.

Offeror must complete a one-time registration by providing their company information through Bonfire. Click this link and select “Register” to complete the registration process.

Once registered the Offeror may go to this link: Utah Public Procurement Place (U3P), to search and select any RFP project listed, log-in, download the project documents, ask questions, confirm an intent to respond, and respond to solicitations published there. Failure to register and log-in with an intent to respond to a RFP constitutes an automatic waiver of Offeror’s right to receive a direct notification of any changes, corrections or addenda for a RFP.

ii. Submission

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION REQUIRED. THERE IS NO OPTION TO SUBMIT A PAPER RESPONSE.

All proposals submitted in response to this RFP MUST be submitted electronically and MUST be submitted through the U3P website. The deadline for submission stated is a hard deadline. If a proposal response is not fully and completely uploaded at the stated date and time, the proposal will not be accepted by the U3P website and will not be considered.

Deadline for submission: The deadline for complete proposal submission, including all uploads is listed in U3P.

Responses through the U3P website require uploading of electronic attachments. The U3P site will accept a variety of document types, including but not limited to Word, Excel, and PDF attachments, but not all document types are necessarily compatible with the U3P website. You MAY NOT submit documents that are embedded (zip files), movies, wmp, mp3 or mp4 files or password protected files, etc. Such actions may cause your response to be deemed as “non-responsive”.

After uploading your response file, Offerors MUST go to “Submit and Finalize”and click “SUBMIT & FINALIZE MY SUBMISSION” to complete the process.

Please allow sufficient time to complete initial registration, including any online forms, and to upload documents. The solicitation will end at the closing time published. If you are in the middle of uploading your documents at the closing time, the system will stop the process and your response will not be received by the system. It is recommended that the submission process be completed the day prior to the due date, with the understanding that any subsequent changes/updates to that initial submission will still be accepted up to the due date and time for complete proposal submission.

b. Proposal Content

Upload cover sheet and response document as described below to the U3P website. Your proposal must be uploaded and the electronic submission completed by the time and date specified. Other uploaded documents such as an exceptions document, declarations of confidentiality, or other reference documents related to the primary response criteria are allowed but should be minimal.

DO NOT submit all pages of this RFP document with response. Include only the response sections described below:

i. Cover Sheet including the following information:

Company Name: ________________________________________________ Doing business as: [ ] an individual [ ] a partnership [ ] a corporation [ ] a limited liability company (mark appropriate box), duly organized under the laws of the State of _________________.

Name of Authorized Representative:

PRINCIPAL OFFICE ADDRESS:

Telephone:

Email Address:

ii. Minimum Mandatory Requirements and Technical Response

When preparing proposals, Offeror shall reply to each of the minimum mandatory requirements and technical scoreable criteria in the order listed. Restate each numbered point listed below followed by Offeror’s response in full, narrative sentences and provide any requested materials.

Offeror’s proposal response for the cover sheet, minimum mandatory requirements, and technical response shall be limited to fifty (50) pages. If the proposal response exceeds the maximum amount, the pages above the maximum will be discarded and not evaluated.

c. Exceptions

i. Exceptions and/or additions to the Sample Agreement (Attachment 1) are strongly discouraged.

Any exceptions submitted or required acceptance of an Offeror’s terms and conditions may render the submission as non-responsive to the requirements listed. The City shall be the sole determiner of the acceptability of any exception. Exceptions shall be considered in the evaluation and the award processes.

The City may refuse to negotiate exceptions and/or additions that are determined to be excessive; that are inconsistent with similar contracts of the procurement unit; to warranties, insurance, or indemnification provisions that are necessary to protect the procurement unit after consultation with the City Attorney's Office or other applicable legal counsel; where the solicitation specifically prohibits exceptions and/or additions; or that are not in the best interest of the procurement unit.

An award resulting from this RFP is subject to successful contract terms and conditions negotiation (if required). The City may reject a proposal if execution of the Agreement by the Offeror is unduly delayed. In a multiple award, the City reserves the right to negotiate exceptions and/or additions to terms and conditions in a manner resulting in expeditious resolutions. Contracts may be executed and become effective as negotiations are completed.

ii. Offeror must provide the City’s Sample Agreement for this solicitation in Microsoft Word format with redline edits along with Offeror’s proposal as a separate and distinct document and clearly marked “Exceptions or Additions to RFP documents”. Additional terms or documents must be submitted in separate Microsoft Word documents. Offeror must also provide the name, contact information, and access to the person(s) that will be directly involved in legal negotiations.

Exceptions and/or additions submitted after the date and time deadline for receipt of proposals will not be considered.

Offerors may not submit requests for exceptions and/or additions by reference to an Offeror's website or URL. URLs provided with a proposal may result in that proposal being rejected as non-responsive.

d. Confidentiality If applicable to Offeror’s proposal submit the following:

i. A written claim of business confidentiality accompanied by a concise written statement of reasons supporting the claim of business confidentiality. Blanket claims that the entire RFP is confidential will be denied and the proposal may be considered non-responsive. (Please use the form provided with this RFP).

ii. One redacted version of the proposal for public release, with all protected business confidential information either blacked-out or removed, clearly marked as “Redacted Version”.

iii. One non-redacted version for evaluation purposes clearly marked as “Protected Business Confidential Information Included Within”.

All three of the foregoing items must be submitted concurrently with the records (with the initial proposal submission and with any other records submitted by Offeror during the evaluation process).

All responses, inquiries, and correspondence relating to this RFP and all reports, charts, displays, schedules, exhibits, and other documentation produced by the Offeror that are submitted to the City, as part of the proposal or otherwise, shall become the property of the City when received by the City and may be considered public information under applicable law. The City is subject to the disclosure requirements of the Government Records Access and Management Act, Title 63G, Chapter 2, Utah Code Annotated (GRAMA). The City generally considers proposals and all accompanying material to be public and subject to disclosure.

The City cannot guarantee that any information will be held confidential. If the Offeror makes a claim of business confidentiality, the City, upon receipt of a request for disclosure, will determine whether the material should be classified as public or nonpublic, and will notify the offeror of such determination. The Offeror is entitled under GRAMA to appeal an adverse determination. The City is not obligated to notify the Offeror of a request to see the Offeror’s proposal, and will not consider a claim of confidentiality, unless the Offeror's claim of confidentiality is made at the time of proposal submission in accordance with GRAMA.

e. Cost Proposal

Offeror must upload a completed cost proposal form through U3P. If an Offeror fails to upload a completed cost proposal form, then its proposal will be considered non-responsive and the proposal will be rejected.

Failure to submit cost or pricing data separately may result in Offeror’s proposal being judged as non-responsive and ineligible for contract award.

Offerors must not include costs or pricing data in their responses to the mandatory minimum requirements and the technical response.

VI. QUESTIONS AND CLARIFICATION

If Offerors have questions, need clarification of provisions, or think the City has omitted anything from this RFP which is necessary to a clear understanding of the work, or should it appear that various instructions are in conflict, then the Offeror shall submit questions online through the U3P website prior to the questions due date and time listed in U3P.

No interpretation of the meaning of any provision in this RFP, nor correction of any apparent ambiguity, inconsistency, error, or any other matter pertaining to this RFP shall be made to the Offeror orally. All questions requesting clarification or interpretation of any section or sections of this RFP must be submitted online through the solicitation on the U3P website prior to the date and time listed in U3P.

Questions received after the question submission date identified above may not be considered nor receive a response. If questions prompt the need for changes to the RFP document(s), the City will issue a written addendum. Any Q & A information and/or written addendums issued by the City shall be available for interested Offerors to view or download through the U3P website within a reasonable period of time following the above referenced deadline.

VII. PROPOSAL CONTENT

When preparing proposals, Offeror shall reply to each of the following minimum mandatory requirements and technical scoreable criteria in the order listed. Restate each numbered point listed below followed by Offeror’s response in full, narrative sentences and provide any requested materials. The score sheet has been attached to this RFP as Attachment 4: Score Sheet. The score sheet states the relative weight that will be given to each technical scoreable criteria.

a. Minimum Mandatory Requirements

Offerors must demonstrate the ability to meet or exceed the mandatory minimum requirements outlined below by providing a narrative point by point response, in the order listed, to each requirement.

The following mandatory minimum requirements must be met in order for a proposal to be considered responsive:

i. City Ethics Requirement. Offeror must include the following two paragraphs in Offeror’s proposal including Offeror’s own written acknowledgement that Offeror has read the first two paragraphs and agrees to comply with the terms thereof. Failure to do so will result in disqualification of Offeror.

Representation regarding ethical standards for city officers and employees and former city officers and employees. The offeror represents that it has not: (1) provided an illegal gift or payoff to a City officer or employee or former City officer or employee, or his or her relative or business entity; (2) retained any person to solicit or secure this contract upon an agreement or understanding for a commission, percentage, or brokerage or contingent fee, other than bona fide employees or bona fide commercial selling agencies for the purpose of securing business; (3) knowingly breached any of the ethical standards set forth in the City's conflict of interest ordinance, Chapter 2.44, Salt Lake City Code; or (4) knowingly influenced, and hereby promises that it will not knowingly influence, a City officer or employee or former City officer or employee to breach any of the ethical standards set forth in the City's conflict of interest ordinance, Chapter 2.44, Salt Lake City Code.

It is the City’s policy that City employees are prohibited from personally accepting gifts, incentives, or marketing or promotional items from suppliers and that suppliers shall not offer such items to City employees. Such offers from suppliers are inappropriate and may result in suspension or debarment of the supplier from the City's procurement processes.

ii. Offeror certifies that Offeror has included a statement that identifies any conflicts or potential conflict of interest that might arise during the Agreement. If no conflicts are identified or expected, respond with “None”.

iii. Offeror certifies that Offeror's proposed team has five (5) years experience or similar experience to the work described in Attachment 2: Scope of Work.

iv. Offeror certifies that they have an office located in Salt Lake County, Utah and will be able to accept claim assignments by telephone, e-mail, and mail Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except City holidays.

All of the items described in this section are non-negotiable. However, if a manufacturer's specification is used or identified above, then a proposal may include, in sufficient detail, that its proposal contains an equivalent brand.

b. Technical Scorable Criteria

i. Qualifications and Proposed Staff Members

1. A statement of the firm’s experience and qualifications to meet the requirements of the City as outlined herein. Include a general overview and history of your company, number of years in business, number of employees, corporate headquarters location, type of business, names of the firm’s chief officers (include an organizational chart if possible), and where you do business. Offerors may include an annual report or statement of finances, if available, but it shall not substitute for the written narrative requested for this item.

2. Detail your firm’s experience in providing the services requested herein for similar customers of similar size, with dates of performance and/or completion, customer name, contact person, and telephone number(s). By providing such references you agree that neither the City nor the clients referenced shall have any liability regarding the provision of such references or the City’s use of such references in making selections under this RFP.

3. Provide a statement detailing Offeror’s current work volume and type of work performed.

4. Provide a list of claims filed against your insurance for the last five (5) years, and how many claims were reported to the insurance companies.

5. Provide samples of Offeror’s work product for a property damage claim, a serious bodily injury claim, and if available, a no-fault utility claim (please redact personally identifiable information).

6. Identify proposed staff members who would be involved in providing the services requested herein and submit statements or resumes detailing their qualifications. Your proposal should include information on levels of training received by each staff member and detailed descriptions of their involvement with projects of similar or identical scopes. Include copies of the Utah adjuster’s licenses for the proposed adjusters.

7. Describe Offeror’s internal culture as it relates to customer service.

8. If applicable, identify any of the work that you intend to subcontract to others and identify the proposed subcontractors including names, specific assignments, and the qualifications of the subcontracting firm and its key personnel.

9. In addition to the information and qualifications specified above, identify any special knowledge or skills provided by your firm that may be related or helpful to the services requested herein.

ii. Approach to Scope of Work

1. Provide a statement of Offeror’s understanding of the project and a general description of proposed approach to the scope of services.

2. Describe established standards for claims investigation, processing and management in order to meet City requirements as described in the scope of services.

3. Provide a general timeline for completing various types of claim assignments and method of keeping the City up to date on progress of investigations and claims. Also provide a timeline and controls for the scenarios described in cost category #1 and #2 in Attachment #3 – Cost Proposal. Do not include any pricing information.

4. Provide a description of the quality standards and controls currently in place with respect to claims investigation. Describe how Offeror documents the results of an investigation. Also provide a description of the quality standards and controls currently in place for the scenarios described in cost category #1 and #2 in Attachment #3 – Cost Proposal. Do not include any pricing information.

5. Identify the major risks associated with this project. For each risk, identify those activities which can be undertaken to reduce, mitigate or eliminate the risk. Identify the associated responsibilities. Ensure that these activities are reflected in your project and management plans. Also provide an analysis of the major risks associated with the scenarios in cost category #1 and #2 in Attachment #3 – Cost Proposal. Do not include any pricing information.

6. In addition to the specific service proposals specified above, identify and/or recommend any additional or innovative services and products provided by your firm that may be related to or helpful to a comprehensive program.

iii. Litigation

Provide a statement detailing whether Offeror is currently involved in arbitration or litigation for any reason. Provide a brief high-level description of the nature of the claim(s), status, and impact on Offeror’s ability to perform.

iv. Approach to Increase Requests and Fees

1. Provide Offeror’s proposed approach to price increases and what data Offeror uses to calculate price increases over the term of the Agreement. Do not provide actual pricing.

2. Provide a list of the names of fees or hidden fees that are transferred to the City as part of providing these services. Do not provide actual pricing.

v. Software, Data Privacy, and ISO Data Retention Protections and Insurance.

1. Provide a list of software that Offeror uses to provide the services required. Include which software City would or could have access.

2. Provide Offeror’s approach to data retention including how long City’s data is stored.

3. Provide Offeror’s approach to ensuring City’s and any claimant’s information is protected.

vi. Investigation Process, Claims Management, and Handling.

1. Describe Offeror’s approach to investigation process.

2. Describe how Offeror’s approach is unique and stands independent from other Offerors.

3. Specifically state possible interactions with third parties as a result of a investigation.

c. Policy Criteria

Some consideration will be incorporated into the scoring of proposals for the following criteria as further described in Attachment 4: Score Sheet. Provide a point by point response to the following questions.

i. Interest in sustainability, recycling, and other environmental matters. The City has an interest in doing business with suppliers that have implemented formal sustainability plans and have operations with minimal adverse impact on the environment. Please state whether your firm has a formal sustainability plan, program or policy and, if so, please attach a copy to your proposal. Any sustainability plan, program or policy should address recycling, re-use of materials, and reduction of waste. Please describe any environmentally-friendly measures such as alternative fuel vehicles, recycling measures, and energy reduction measures used by your firm in its operations.

ii. Business Certification. Please indicate all that apply.

1. None

2. (MBE) Minority Business Enterprise

3. (WBE) Women Owned Business Enterprise

4. (SBE) Small Business Enterprises

5. (SDVBE) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Enterprises

6. (LBE) Local Business Enterprises

iii. Apprenticeships. Has your company conducted an apprenticeship during the twelve (12) months prior to submitting this offer that is consistent with the requirements of Utah Code Title 35A, Chapter 6 and the requirements of the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training?

iv. Is Offeror considered a Local Small Business? (Defined as Offerors that have a fixed office or distribution point within City boundaries, possess a City business license stating a City address, employ no more than thirty (30) full time employees (meaning employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year), and have annual gross revenues not in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000.00).)

d. Cost Proposal

i. Cost Proposal

Complete and submit Attachment 3: Cost Proposal.

Proposed prices must include all costs associated with the performance of the services specified, including materials, supervision, labor, insurance, transportation, delivery, fuel or other surcharges, demurrage, and related costs. Prices must also include the return of any City data at the end of the Agreement. Charges not listed in the RFP response will not be allowed. All prices and fees must be in U.S. dollars.

ii. Price Guarantee Period

Offeror must guarantee its pricing for the first two (2) years of the Agreement.

If allowable under this RFP, a request for price adjustment must be made at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date. A request for price adjustment must include sufficient documentation (market analysis) supporting the request. Any price adjustment will not be effective unless approved by the Chief Procurement Officer. A price adjustment will be guaranteed for the same length of time as the original price guarantee. City will be given the immediate benefit of any decrease in the market, or allowable discount.

VIII. PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

a. Stage 1: Initial Review

In the initial phase of the evaluation process, City will review all proposals timely received. Non-responsive proposals not conforming to RFP requirements or unable to meet the mandatory minimum requirements will be eliminated from further consideration.

b. Stage 2: Technical Proposal And Policy Criteria Evaluation

Responsive proposals will then be evaluated by an evaluation committee appointed by City against the proposal technical scoreable criteria noted in this RFP. Proposals will be evaluated against the technical scoreable criteria as follows:

Technical Category #1 (100 Points): Qualifications and Proposed Staff Members Technical Category #2 (150 Points): Approach to Scope of Work Technical Category #3 (125 Points): Litigation Technical Category #4 (150 Points): Approach to Increase Requests and Fees Technical Category #5 (100 Points): Software, Data Privacy, and ISO Data Retention Protections and Insurance.

Technical Category #6 (175 Points): Investigation Process, Claims Management, and Handling.

Policy Criteria (40 Points)

Total Technical Points Possible: 840 points

Offerors that achieve minimum score threshold of 588 points will proceed to Stage 3: Interviews. Offerors with a score of less than the minimum required technical points will be ineligible for further consideration.

The evaluation score sheet has been attached to this RFP. The attached evaluation score sheet states the relative weight that will be given to each technical scoreable criteria.

c. Stage 3: Interviews

Total Interview Points: 180 points

City shall establish a date and time for the interviews or presentations and shall notify eligible Offerors of the procedures. Offerors that achieve minimum score threshold of 108 points will proceed to the Final Stage: Cost Proposal Evaluation. Offerors with a score of less than the minimum required interview points will be ineligible for further consideration.

The evaluation committee, for this RFP, will tally the final scores for criteria other than cost to arrive at a consensus score by the following method: an average of the individual scores.

d. Final Stage: Cost Proposal Evaluation

The cost proposal will be evaluated independently from the technical proposal.

For each cost category, the Offeror with the lowest total cost will receive 66.315 points, or 25% of the total cost points. All other Offerors will receive a portion of the total cost points based on what percentage higher their total cost is than the total lowest cost. The formula to compute the points is: Cost Points x (Lowest Proposed Price/Proposed Price).

It is anticipated that this RFP will result in a single contract award to the responsive and responsible Offeror with the highest score justified by the procurement code.

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