RFI Document.pdf

State of Florida Department of Financial Services

Request for Information (RFI) RFI No.: 2324-01 RFI CS

Insurance Dispute Data Analytics

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE BID, PROPOSAL, OR REPLY

AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED.

I. Introduction and Background.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the statutory registered agent for all insurers doing business in Florida. Practically speaking, this means that to serve a lawsuit or subpoena on an insurer in Florida, a plaintiff must provide the necessary documents to the Department of Financial Services (the Department), and the Department will serve the same on the defendant (insurer). Before 2016, plaintiffs provided lawsuits and subpoenas to the Department via certified mail and process servers (paper only). Pursuant to statute, the Department created an online Legal Service of Process (LSOP) Portal that was made available beginning in July 2016. The LSOP Portal allows plaintiffs to provide the documents to the Department electronically and the Department to serve the insurer electronically. From July 2016 until June 2022, the Department accepted service electronically, by certified mail, and by process servers. Beginning July 1, 2022, pursuant to statute, the Department began accepting service exclusively via the LSOP Portal. In 2022, the Department processed approximately 475,000 services.

The LSOP Portal is located at https://apps.fldfs.com/LSOP/Account/Login.aspx.

II. Current Process.

The Department manages two additional statutorily-required systems for parties who wish to file suit against an insurer: 1) the Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violations (CRN) system, located at https://apps.fldfs.com/CivilRemedy/, and 2) the Property Insurance Intent to Initiate Litigation (PIITIL) system, located at https://piitil.myfloridacfo.gov/. The information submitted through the CRN and PIITIL systems are pre-suit notice requirements. Additional information about the CRN and PIITIL systems can be found in Attachment A.

III. Goals.

1. Interface-The LSOP Portal does not interface with either the CRN or PIITIL systems. If the three systems could “speak to” each other, the Department could compare noticed potential lawsuits (filed in the CRN and PIITIL systems) with those actually filed in the LSOP Portal.

The ability to track a matter from the CRN and/or PIITIL systems would most likely require each matter to have a unique ID, so a user could identify when a matter noticed in the CRN or PIITIL systems is filed in the LSOP Portal as a lawsuit. This would allow the Department to track a dispute as it moves from the pre-suit stage (a filng in the CRN and/or PIITIL systems), to the active litigation phase (a filing in the LSOP Portal). Tracking matters filed in each system will provide useful information on several data points (See III 2.), including the rate at which carriers are resolving disputes prior to litigation.

2. Data Searching and Reporting-The LSOP Portal, CRN system, and PIITIL system do not allow for robust data searching and reporting. Ideally, the following information (from any or all three systems unless noted below) should be available in a searchable format, with reporting capabilities:

a. Parties

b. Attorneys/Law firms

c. Geography (where suits are initiated and where the alleged harm occurred)

d. Claim type(s) (breach of contract, etc.)

e. Line(s) of insurance

f. Damage(s) claimed (type and amount) https://apps.fldfs.com/LSOP/Account/Login.aspx https://apps.fldfs.com/CivilRemedy/ https://piitil.myfloridacfo.gov/

g. Date of loss

h. The ability to distinguish catastrophic claims (i.e., those arising from a named storm, or other declared disaster) from routine, non-catastophic claims (i.e., pipe burst, single house fire)

i. The abilityto distinguish between disputes arising out of an initial claim versus a re-opened claim.

j. The ability to distinguish between service of subpoenas and service of lawsuits against insurers. Currently, the Department can only track the total number of services received without differenatiating between the two. *LSOP Portal only.

3. Audience-Data from all three systems should be available and searchable both internally (Department) and externally (consumers, insurers, Legislature, Office of Insurance Regulation, etc.).

4. LSOP Portal Stability-The current LSOP Portal experiences occasional technological problems. For example, insurers may not receive services from the Department, delivery of those services is delayed, the services may be missing pages, or the services are not available when the insurer checks the system. The Department is able to correct these problems after-the-fact, but is focused on achieving service without interruption or error.

5. System Requirements-The Department is seeking guidance on the feasibility and cost of creating a replacement LSOP Portal versus leveraging the existing LSOP Portal to feed data into an analytics interface that offers reporting capabilities.

IV. Purpose of an RFI.

Pursuant to Rule 60A-1.042, Florida Administrative Code (FAC), an agency may request information from the business community by issuing a written RFI. Agencies may use a RFI to determine whether to competitively procure commodities or contractual services; which solicitation process to use for a particular need; or to determine general, special, and/or technical specifications to be included in a solicitation. A vendor’s response to an RFI is not an offer and shall not be used to justify a contract with that vendor without otherwise complying with chapter 287, Florida Statutes, (F.S.) and Rule 60A-1, FAC. Vendors submitting a response to an agency’s RFI are not prohibited from responding to any related subsequent solicitation.

Any future purchase of the services will be conducted in accordance with chapter 287, Florida Statutes. The Department may use response(s) to this RFI to prepare one (1) or more competitive solicitations and as the basis for any subsequent vendor meetings.

V. Procurement Officer.

Amy Jones, Purchasing Director Department of Financial Services Email: DFSPurchasing@myfloridacfo.com

This contact person is the only individual authorized to respond to RFI comments and questions. If you contact any other individual within the Department, your response will be excluded from review.

mailto:DFSPurchasing@myfloridacfo.com

VI. RFI Process.

Vendor responses to this RFI will be reviewed by the Department for informational purposes only and will not result in the award of a contract. The Department will review the responses to determine the feasibility of issuing a competitive solicitation. Any request for cost information is for budgetary purposes only. If necessary, the Department may ask to hold presentations with one

(1) or more of the responding vendors. Responding to this RFI does not prevent a vendor from being eligible to contract with another agency pursuant to section 287.057(19)(c), F.S., and does not guarantee any respondent a contract.

VII. Response Instructions.

Vendor responses should be organized in tabbed sections as indicated below. Responses should be no more than 75 pages in length. DO NOT INCLUDE MARKETING LITERATURE AS PART

OF YOUR RESPONSE.

VIII. Response Format.

1. Tab 1 – Introduction:

Provide a cover letter including the vendor’s primary point of contact for this RFI and contact information (name, title, address, telephone number(s), and email address).

2. Tab 2 – Requested Information and Responses:

Responses to this document should indicate how a vendor would build an electronic system to accomplish the Department’s Goals described in Section III.

Additionally, responses should include narratives and/or documents addressing the following topics:

1. Training

2. Technical Support (including whether such support is ongoing)

3. Dashboard Functionality

4. System Security

5. Historical LSOP Data Analysis

3. Tab 3 – Optional Information and Features:

Optional information may be provided to the Department by the vendor. Vendors may describe any additional or optional features that the vendor is capable of delivering within its solution or that would be helpful to the Department in evaluating whether, and how, to contract with vendor for services described in this RFI.

4. Tab 4 – Sample Pricing Information:

Provide general, non-binding pricing information for variables impacting the price, and other fees/charges for the solution(s). Additionally, provide specific details as they may be known to the respondent about how the vendor will be compensated for the services provided.

IX. Response Submission.

Please submit an electronic copy of your response, via email, to the Procurement Officer identified in Section V. Responses should be received by the Department no later than the time and date noted in Section XIII, Timeline.

Responses must reference the RFI No.: 2324-01 RFI CS in the subject line of the email response submission.

The vendor should include a redacted copy of the original response, if applicable. See Section XV. below.

X. Presentations.

At the sole discretion of the Department, one (1) or more vendors may be selected to demonstrate to the Department the vendor’s products and services relating to the information submitted in the RFI response.

XI. Question and Answer Period.

Questions regarding this RFI shall be submitted in writing via email to the Procurement Officer identified in Section V. by the date and time specified in Section XIII below or as amended by the Department. Questions will not be answered by telephone. The Department will post answers to questions received on the Vendor Information Portal (“VIP”) by the date and time specified in the timeline below.

XII. Addenda or Changes to the RFI.

The Department reserves the right to make changes to this RFI by posting addenda on the VIP. It is the vendor’s responsibility to check for any posted addenda on the VIP.

XIII. Timeline.

The following timeline details the dates and times that tasks should be completed during this RFI process. This timeline will be strictly adhered to in all actions relative to this RFI. If the Department finds it necessary to update any of the dates and times, it will issue an addenda to the RFI. All times listed below are in Eastern Time (ET) in Tallahassee, Florida.

Timeline Event Date

Event Time

Location

Release of RFI 8/8/2023 1:00 PM Posted to VIP Submission of Written Questions

8/15/2023 5:00 PM DFSPurchasing@myfloridacfo.com

Answers to Submitted Questions

8/22/2023 N/A Posted to VIP

Responses due to the Procurement Officer

9/8/2023 3:00 PM DFSPurchasing@myfloridacfo.com

XIV. Disclosure of Response Contents.

All documentation submitted as a response to the RFI will become the exclusive property of the Department and will not be returned to the vendor. Responses received by the Department may be disclosed pursuant to a public records request.

XV. Confidential Responses Materials and Redacted Submissions.

If your company considers any portion of the documents, data, or records submitted in response to this RFI to be trade secret, in order to preserve the confidentiality of the material, you must clearly mark the document as “Trade Secret” and simultaneously provide the Department with a separate, redacted copy with only the trade secret portions of the document redacted and a brief description of the grounds for claiming exemption from public disclosure, including the specific statutory citation for the exemption.

In the event of a public records request, request for production, subpoena, or other demand for records, to which documents that are marked as “Trade Secret” are responsive, the Department will provide the redacted copy to the requestor. If a requestor asserts a right to the trade secret information, the Department will notify the vendor that such an assertion has been made prior to releasing the information (unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law or court order). It is the vendor’s responsibility to assert that the information in question is exempt from disclosure under chapter 119, F.S., or other applicable law. The vendor is responsible for defending its determination that the redacted portions of its documents, data, or records are trade secret.

By submitting a response to this RFI, the vendor agrees to protect, defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Department for any and all claims arising from or relating to the vendor’s determination that the redacted portions of its response are trade secret.

If the vendor fails to mark material as “Trade Secret” or fails to submit a redacted copy of information it claims is trade secret, the Department is authorized to produce, in their entirety, all documents, data, and records submitted to the Department in answer to a public records request, request for production, subpoena, or other demand for records without notice to the vendor.

XVI. Vendor Costs.

Vendors are responsible for all costs associated with the preparation, submission, and any potential meeting to discuss this RFI. The State of Florida, Department, or the Division will not be responsible for any vendor related costs associated with responding to this RFI.

XVII. Special Accommodations.

Any person requiring a special accommodation due to a disability should contact the Department’s Procurement Officer. Requests for accommodation for meetings must be made at least five (5) business says prior to the meeting. A person who is hearing or speech impaired can contact the Procurement Office by using the Florida Relay Services at (800) 955-8771 (TDD).

Certified Business Enterprises certified pursuant to section 287.0943, Florida Statutes, are encouraged to participate in the RFI process.