LICENSE TESTING AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVI

The South Carolina Department of Insurance (SCDOI) is seeking a qualified contractor to provide comprehensive license testing and administrative services for insurance-related professional licensing examinations. Through a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the State Fiscal Accountability Authority's Office of State Procurement, the agency requires a vendor to develop, administer, and maintain examinations for various insurance professions, including producers, adjusters, appraisers, public adjusters, surplus lines brokers, and bail bondsmen. The contractor must provide a sophisticated automated testing system capable of scheduling appointments within five business days, maintaining a diverse question bank to prevent test repetition, and offering examinations at six specific geographic locations across South Carolina. Key service requirements include providing multiple-choice examinations, developing state-specific questions, offering online testing capabilities, maintaining strict examination security protocols, and delivering daily exam score feeds to state systems. The solicitation timeline included a non-mandatory pre-proposal conference on March 15, 2022, with questions due by April 15, 2022, and proposals originally due April 18, 2022 (later amended to April 25, 2022). The contract term is estimated to begin July 1, 2022, and end June 30, 2027, consisting of an initial one-year term with four potential one-year renewals.

The procurement does not specify specific set-aside designations or restrictions for disadvantaged enterprises. The contractor will be compensated exclusively through examination fees collected from testing candidates, with no direct compensation from SCDOI. Approximately 8,588 exams are administered annually, with an anticipated total of 15,521 examinations over the two-year period referenced in historical documentation. Vendors must demonstrate financial capability through current and two-year historical financial statements and provide references from comparable contracts. Significant insurance requirements include maintaining comprehensive liability coverage, with mandatory cyber and privacy insurance of $5 million per occurrence and $10 million aggregate. The contractor is prohibited from offshore outsourcing and must maintain all government information within the continental United States. Pricing must be submitted as a fixed price per examination, with the first failed exam attempt provided free to candidates and subsequent retakes charged at a standard rate. No pricing increases are permitted during the initial contract term, with any renewal term price adjustments requiring formal approval and documentation.