HSFE60-16-R-0004_Attachment_D_dated_Aug_10_2016.pdf

Offeror Question Number

Document Item Number Page Number

Question/Comment FEMA Response

1 RFP C.5 - C.6; Pages 20 and 21

Previous contracts included a 60-day notice of intent to extend the term of the contract with notice of actual exercise of extension within 30 days of contract expiration. This RFP indicates that notice of actual exercise of extension will be made within 7 days of contract expiration.

Late notice like this could have impact on a contractor's resources and financials; will the Government extend the notice time back to 30 days to allow the contractor adequate time to prepare?

Section C.5 has been revised to indicate that the Government will provide at least 30-days written advance notice prior to extending services of the contract pursuant to FAR 52.217-8. Section C.6 has been revised to indicate the Government will exercise any option to extend the term of the contract at least 30-days before contract expiration pursuant to FAR 52.217-9.

2 HSFE60-16-R-0004

SECTION C -

CONTRACT

CLAUSES C.1

14 Will the following contract rules apply to all bidders? If yes, what is the exact criteria for assessing an Inverted Company for this opportunity?(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: (1) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (Dec 2014)

Yes. Criteria is from FAR clause 52.209-10, FAR part 9.108 and 6 U.S.C. § 395(b) & (c).

3 21 FAR 52.227-17 Rights in Data - Special Works - This is a clause used in a limited case based on FAR 27.405(a); the general Data Rights clause is included- if it is needed please identify all deliverables where this clause is needed.

FAR clause 52.227-14, Rights in Data - General, is applicable to data other than special works. FAR 52.227-17 has been replaced with FAR 52.27- 14.

4 SOO 5.5.6, page 8 Can FEMA provide further clarity around the requirement for the aggressive debt collection process? The Offeror should use the reference in the solicitation - Debt Collection Act of 1982 (31 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.)

5 RFP c.14 Should the contractor plan FEMA to take 90 days to review and award the initial ATO for the solution? The contractor may propose a schedule that they believe is reasonable to obtain an ATO based on their solution - the timeframe to acquire an ATO varies greatly depending on many factors such as network controls, hosting facilities, security measures, and FEMA/Office of Chief Information Security Office (CISO) staffing resources etc. Task order 0001 includes options to allow up to 12 months for the ATO process; if necessary.

6 RFP Would the government please provide the expected award date and the contract start date? The anticipated award/start date is September 30, 2016.

7 SOO 10.8; Page 16 Within 10.8 Personnel Requirements; FEMA indicates that contractor personnel working under this contract will be required to pass a Federal Government background check (or security clearance).

Does this include all contractor personnel, including shared resources, that have any involvement in the delivery of services on this contract? What is the time period allowed for this effort to be completed? Is this to be done at FEMA's expense?

Any contractor personnel who has access to FEMA data must have a Government badge; badging can take upwards of eight weeks, sometimes even longer; FEMA's Office of Security will administer the process. The contractor will not be permitted to directly bill for their costs incurred for the background investigation and badging process.

This cost should be factored into the proposed pricing under the CLIN structure. FEMA will not bill or charge the contractor for the Agency's effort to process background checks.

8 SOO 10.9; Page 16 Within Item 10.9 – Personnel – Badging and Security Requirements; FEMA indicates that all contracting personnel must be US Citizens, undergo the appropriate level of FEMA background screening, be FEMA badged, and obtain clearance for elevated privilege responsibilities.

Is it the government's position that documented legal aliens are precluded from supporting this contract?

Only U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents are eligible for employment on contracts requiring access to DHS sensitive information unless an exception is granted in accordance with the exceptions section below.

9 SOO 10.8 The phrase “All contracting personnel must be US Citizens, undergo the appropriate level of FEMA background screening, be FEMA badged and obtain clearance for elevated privilege responsibilities.”

Please provide levels and types of employees that would fall under these rules – does all mean all on project or only ones that visit or work in government buildings, etc.?

Any contractor personnel who has access to FEMA data must have a Government badge.

10 SOO 10.9 Will subcontractor employee require FEMA Badging? Any contractor personnel including subcontractors who has access to FEMA data must have a Government badge. It is the responsibility for the prime contractor to coordinate any badging requirements for its subcontractors.

11 In the 2010 DSA Solicitation, an example of call volume/handle time data was provided? Can you please provide call volume and handle time data for the existing DSA contract?

Call volume data is provided in new RFP Attachment F.

12 Will the government provide existing call volume metrics to include day of week at hourly or half-hour increments and average handle times for the contact center?

Total monthly volume has been provided, no other call information is available.

13 Will the government provide existing call volume metrics per month for a 12-month period and average handle times for the contact center?

See RFP Attachment F.

14 Will the government include the general percentage of calls that are escalated to Tier 2 from the contact center?

This information is not available.

15 SOO General From a call center perspective, there are a number of factors that can have a significant impact on call volume i.e., FEMA program or policy changes, floods, hurricanes, etc. As there is no way to predict these types of scenarios, is there any part of the contract that will allow for these unpredictable factors that can impact the contractor's performance?

These factors are considered when the COR evaluates performance, and the COR can work with the CO during these times, if necessary, to waive performance requirements; these are rare situations.

Aon NFS 16 QASP Page 4 Performance Requirement Summary - 1e. Claims adjustment and examination completed 45 business days from receipt of NOL; no more than 2% processed later than specified timeframe. This is a change from the current SOW 8.0 Performance Management average of 45 days, which allows the offset of later closings with those claims that are closed well within the 45 days. This standard is also contrary to policy language that provides the policyholder 60 days to submit the completed/ signed POL which is submitted with the adjuster's final report for examination. DSA or adjusters pushing policyholders for earlier POL submission could be seen as a less than favorable customer experience. This is further impacted by the various FEMA waivers/extensions to submission of POL that results in much later submission and claim closure timing.

Does FEMA agree that the time to complete claims adjustments and examinations should average 45 days from receipt of NOL in order to account for the 60 days FEMA allows policyholders to submit the completed / signed POL?

If FEMA is requiring a straight 45 day requirement, what is FEMA's plan to waive/extend this to be consistent with FEMA POL waivers/extensions? Also, will FEMA be changing the policy language to require policyholders to submit POL within 45 days of the loss?

FEMA agrees the time to complete claims adjustments and examinations should average 45 days from receipt of NOL.

17 RFP B.3; page 3 Can FEMA confirm that the awarded contractor will not start charging against CLINS 0007 thru 0019 until their transition period is completed?

This assumption is correct. Billing for policy management cannot start until transition is complete and ATO is provided.

RFP HSFE60-16-R-0004 Attachment D Questions & Answers dated 8/10/16

RFP HSFE60-16-R-0004 Attachment D Questions & Answers dated 8/10/16

18 RFP Page 8 CLINS 0001 through 3015 are to be totaled. The quantities of policies in force to be quoted in the CLINS is far in excess of the actual policies in force quantities. Therefore, the total on this page would be far greater than the expected actual task orders because of the differences in the quantities. Must this total be less than the $97.5 million identified in B.1?

See revised RFP Attachment C, Price Evaluation Worksheet for revised quantities to be priced for evaluation purposes only. The evaluated price may exceed the IDIQ ceiling of $97.5M. The quantities used are for evaluation purposes only. Actual quantities will vary. The evaluated total price will not be incorporated into the contract. Only the proposed unit prices and fixed priced CLIN amounts provided on the price worksheet will be incorporated into the contract. The unit pricing proposed in Attachment C must be consistent (the same) as the unit pricing proposed under Section B.3 of the RFP.

19 QASP Who will perform the periodic surveillance? The Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer Representative, and any designated task monitors.

20 SOO 10.6 "The underwriting manager will also be CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) certified"" CPCU is a valid certification for P&C professionals and focuses on insurance law, history, contracts and other topics. However, it does not strongly align with the specialist nature of Flood Underwriting Manager for the NFIP, where experience in understanding the NFIP rules and regulations, handling escalated underwriting issues and NFIP Compliance are key. CPCU and public information indicates that less than 3% of “insurance industry” professionals hold a CPCU.

Would the government consider extensive years of NFIP Underwriting operational, knowledge of P&C best practices and extensive understanding for NFIP rules and regulations and the highest level of NFIP Compliance as a satisfactory substitution for CPCU certification?

The CPCU designation, while beneficial, is not a requirement.

21 SOO 10.4; Page 15 Within Section 10 – Key Personnel and Qualifications; FEMA has indicated that the Underwriting Manager will have to be a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). The Institutes, in close coordination with FEMA, established the Associate in National Flood Insurance (ANFI) designation in 2010. The Institutes state the following as part of the program description – “Confidently and accurately handle all aspects of flood insurance with ANFI, the premier flood insurance designation developed by The Institutes and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)”. While the CPCU is more generic in nature, the Associate in National Flood Insurance (ANFI) designation is tailored to the specific needs of flood insurance and the NFIP. The ANFI (Associate in National Flood Insurance), reflects a more focused flood insurance education than the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) certification and is considered the premier flood insurance designation.

Does FEMA agree that the ANFI designation is an acceptable substitute for the CPCU requirement for the contractor’s Underwriting Manager?

The CPCU designation, while beneficial, is not a requirement.

22 SOO 10.4 The underwriting manager has not historically been required to have the CPCU designation. As NFIP underwriting is significantly different than underwriting private lines of insurance, will the Government consider waiving this requirement, or allowing a certain number of years of NFIP Underwriting management experience be an equivalent?

The CPCU designation, while beneficial, is not a requirement.

23 SOO 4.1.1.11

PERFORMANCE

OBJECTIVES, GOALS,

AND OUTCOMES

"Provide a customer relationship management (CRM) solution that aligns with the solutions adopted by the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration and the Flood Insurance Advocate"

Would the government provide details of the CRM solutions adopted by the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration and the Flood Insurance Advocate?

FEMA currently leverages Salesforce CRM tools. A high level overview of what CRM the Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate uses will be added to the bidders library.

24 SOO 4.1.1.11 Please provide a description of the CRM solutions currently in place and adopted by FIMA and the Flood Insurance Advocate.

See response to question 25.

25 The government has included estimated hours in the price worksheet for the customer experience lab.

Are contractors expected to bid these specific number of hours or is the government open to changes to those estimated hours?

Yes offerors shall provide pricing for the customers experience lab for the stated labor categories and quantities. The labor rates provided shall be fully loaded and shall apply for the duration of the contract to price task orders. The quantities used in Attachment C are for evaluation purposes only. No deviations from the quantities in Attachment C will be accepted.

26 QASP Page 6 Customer Experience/Service - 5a. Customer Satisfaction: Highly satisfied customer review ratings.

Overall CSAT should not fall below 7.0 / 10 (or less than 0.5 below NFIP wide average). Method of Surveillance: Annual customer experience surveys and focus groups to evaluate CSAT and drivers of CSAT;

customer complaints. In order to meet highly satisfied customer ratings, it is critical to know what is exactly being rated or evaluated.

What type of questions will be part of the annual customer experience survey? Who will be performing this survey effort in running these focus groups, for instance Office for Flood Insurance Advocate, or FEMA Director of Customer Experience? Will the survey focus only on policyholders serviced by the DSA? Will the focus groups only include policyholders serviced by the DSA?

The Government is looking to the Offerors to propose questions; the focus groups will coordinate with the Flood Insurance Advocate and the Customer Experience office; the focus group will be policyholders who had been serviced by the DSA within the past year.

27 SOO 4.1.4.2; Page 5 and 4.1.4.7; Page 6

Within Objective 4 – Provide secure, government approved innovative IT solutions; FEMA includes the term “commercial purposes”. What is FEMA's definition of commercial purposes? Can FEMA confirm that use of NFIP data for internal analysis, development of tools to improve customer service metrics, improvements of the DSA provided services, etc. is not considered to be a commercial purpose?

Commercial purposes is defined as widely available to both Government and private industry; while the use of NFIP data is not commercial and it cannot be co-mingled with any other data in the Offerors' possession and may only be used to improve the DSA's customer experience; the policy servicing requirements are considered commercial, and proposed IT solutions could also be widely available, and thus commercial

Sheet1