REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Transcription

1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL General Insurance Brokerage Services Date of Issue: December 6, 2012 Closing Location:Prince Rupert, B.C. Mail or courier: Dan Rodin Chief Financial Officer City of Prince Rupert rd Avenue Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1L7 Closing date and time: Three (3) complete copies of each proposal must be received prior to 4 pm Pacific Time January 18, 2013 Contact: All enquiries must be directed to: Karen Evans Insurance Consulting Tel sk.evans@shaw.ca

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Insurance Broker of Record

3 1.0 INTRODUCTION The City of Prince Rupert does not want, nor is authorizing proponents to approach any insurers on its behalf as part of this Request for Proposal process. Any proponent that approaches or contacts any insurer(s) will be disqualified in responding to this RFP. The purpose of this Request for Proposal process is to select a qualified and experienced Insurance Broker to supply insurance brokerage services on behalf and for the benefit of the City of Prince Rupert (The City). Such services are, but, not limited to: 1. Property insurance for buildings, contents and mobile equipment 2. Boiler, Machinery and Equipment Breakdown 3. Employee Dishonesty and Crime 4. Accidental Death & Dismemberment for Mayor, Councillors and Commission Members 5. General Risk Management advice 6. Property Risk Control Service 7. Claims consulting 8. Marine Piers, Wharves & Docks 9. Marine Hull & Machinery Renewal 10. Marine Protection & Indemnity On a project specific basis, The City occasionally requires: 1. Wrap-Up Liability 2. Builder s Risk Current coverage values include: Property Insurance All Risk $168,204,000 Equipment Breakdown 31,000,000 Marine Piers, Wharves & Docks 5,300,000 Employee Dishonesty 50,000 Broadform Money & Securities June/July 100,000 Hull & Machinery Insurance (Digby Ferry) 3,000,000 Included in this coverage is the insurance for a subsidary telecommunications company. The City is a member of the Municipal Insurance Association for its Liability Insurance Coverage. The City is looking at a fee for service agreement for the handling of our standard insurance policies (see above), while a commission and or fee for services structure may be entertained as it relates to any additional services or needs as appropriate.

4 2.0 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TERMS The City has formulated the terms and procedures set out in this RFP to ensure that it receives proposals through an open, competitive process, and the Proponents receive fair and equitable treatment in the solicitation, receipt and evaluation of their proposals. The following terms will apply to this Request for Proposal and to any subsequent Contract. Submission of a proposal in response to this Request for Proposal indicates acceptance of all the following terms. 2.1 DEFINITIONS Throughout this Request for Proposal, terminology is used as follows: a) City means The City of Prince Rupert; b) Contract means the written agreement or Purchase Order resulting from this Request for Proposal, in accordance with this Request for Proposal. c) Contractor or Broker or Broker of Record means a successful Proponent to this Request for Proposal who enters into a written Contract with the City; d) must, mandatory or required means a requirement that must be met in order for a proposal to receive consideration; e) Proponent means an individual or a company that submits, or intends to submit, a Proposal in response to this Request for Proposal ; f) Proposal means the Proponent s response to this Request for Proposal ; g) should or desirable means a requirement having a significant degree of importance to the objectives of the Request for Proposal. 2.2 NOT A TENDER This Request for Proposal (RFP) is not a tender call, and the submission of any response to this RFP does not create a tender process. By this RFP, the City reserves to itself the absolute and unfettered discretion to invite submissions, consider and analyze submissions, select short-listed Proponents or attempt to negotiate an agreement with the Successful Proponent as the City considers desirable. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the City reserves the right to: a) Reject, consider or short-list any submission whether or not it contains all information required by this RFP; b) Require clarification where a submission is unclear;

5 c) Reject any or all submissions without any obligation, or any compensation or reimbursement, to any Respondent, intended Proponent, or any other person associated with this RFP process; d) Disqualify or reject any submission without discussion with the submitting party; e) Reject any submission that the City considers is not in its best interests; 2.3 NO OBLIGATION TO PROCEED Though the City fully intends at this time to proceed through the RFP, the City is under no obligation to proceed to the purchase, or any other stage. The receipt by the City of any information (including any submissions, ideas, plans, drawings, models or other materials communicated or exhibited by any intended Proponent, or on its behalf) shall not impose any obligations on the City. There is no guarantee by the City, its officers, employees or agents, that the process initiated by the issuance of this RFP will continue, or that this RFP process or any RFP process will result in a contract with the City. 2.4 CITY S DECISION-MAKING The City has the power to make any decision, or to exercise any contractual right or remedy, contemplated in this RFP at its own absolute and unfettered discretion. 2.5 ADDENDA AND SUBSEQUENT INFORMATION Proponents are advised that all subsequent information regarding this RFP including any addendum will be distributed on BC Bid. All addenda must be acknowledged in your submission on the Certification Document. 2.6 ENQUIRIES All enquiries related to this Request for Proposal are to be directed, in writing, to the following person. Information obtained from any other source is not official and should not be relied upon. Enquiries and responses will be recorded and may be distributed to all Proponents at the City s option. Any questions regarding this RFP must be submitted by at least ten (10) working days prior to the closing date. Any questions submitted after this date may not be answered. Karen Evans Insurance Consulting Tel sk.evans@shaw.ca 2.7 FINAL DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS Sealed proposals, clearly marked on the outside of the envelope with the words General Insurance Brokerage Services will be received at the office of: Dan Rodin Chief Financial Officer

6 City of Prince Rupert rd Avenue West Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1L7 up until January 18, 2013, 4:00 PM, Local Time. Proposals will not be opened publicly. Proposals must not be submitted electronically by facsimile or . Proposals and their envelopes should be clearly marked with the name and address of the Proponent, the Request for Proposal number, and the project or program title. 2.8 LATE PROPOSALS Late proposals will not be accepted and will be returned to the Proponent. 2.9 ELIGIBILITY Proposals will not be evaluated if the Proponent s current or past corporate or other interests may, in the City s opinion, give rise to a conflict of interest in connection with this project EVALUATION COMMITTEE Evaluation of proposals will be by a committee formed by the City EVALUATION AND SELECTION Proposals will be checked against the mandatory criteria. Proposals not meeting all mandatory criteria will be rejected without further consideration. Proposals that do meet all the mandatory criteria will then be assessed and scored against the desirable criteria. The City s intent is to enter into a Contract with the Proponent who has the highest overall ranking. By responding to this RFP, Proponents will be deemed to have agreed that the decision of the Evaluation Team will be final and binding NEGOTIATION DELAY If a written Contract cannot be finalized within 14 days of notification of the successful Proponent, the City may, at its sole discretion at any time thereafter, rescind the award with that Proponent and either sign a Contract with the next qualified Proponent or choose to terminate the Request for Proposal process and not enter into a Contract with any of the Proponents DEBRIEFING Unsuccessful Proponents may request a debriefing meeting with the City SIGNED PROPOSALS

7 The proposal must be signed by the person(s) authorized to sign on behalf of the Proponent and to bind the Proponent to statements made in response to this Request for Proposal ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS If alternative solutions are offered, please submit the information in the same format, as a separate proposal CHANGES TO PROPOSAL WORDING The Proponent will not change the wording of its proposal after closing and no words or comments will be added to the proposal unless requested by the City for purposes of clarification WORKING LANGUAGE OF THE CITY The working language of the City is English and all responses to this Request for Proposal must be in English IRREVOCABILITY OF PROPOSALS By submission of a clear and detailed written notice, the Proponent may amend or withdraw its proposal prior to the closing date and time. Upon closing time, all proposals become irrevocable. By submission of a proposal, the Proponent agrees that should its proposal be successful the Proponent will enter into a contract with the City of Prince Rupert PROPONENT S EXPENSES Proponents are solely responsible for their own expenses in preparing a proposal and for subsequent negotiations with the City, if any. If the City elects to reject all proposals, the City will not be liable to any Proponent for any claims, whether for costs or damages incurred by the Proponent in preparing the proposal, loss of anticipated profit in connection with any final Contract, or any other matter whatsoever LIMITATION OF DAMAGES Further to the preceding paragraph, the Proponent, by submitting a proposal, agrees that it will not claim damages, for whatever reason, relating to the Contract or in respect of the competitive process, in excess of an amount equivalent to the reasonable costs incurred by the Proponent in preparing its proposal and the Proponent, by submitting a proposal, waives any claim for loss of profits if no agreement is made with the Proponent COMPLETENESS OF PROPOSAL By submission of a proposal the Proponent warrants that, if this Request for Proposal is to design, create or provide a system or manage a program, all components required to run the system or manage the program have been identified in the proposal or will be provided by the Contractor at no charge.

8 2.24 SUB-CONTRACTING a) Using a sub-contractor (who must be clearly identified in the proposal) is acceptable. This includes a joint submission by two Proponents having no formal corporate links. However, in this case, one of these Proponents must be prepared to take overall responsibility for successful interconnection of the two product or service lines and this must be defined in the proposal. b) Sub-contracting to any firm or individual whose current or past corporate or other interests may, in the City s opinion, give rise to a conflict of interest in connection with this project will not be permitted. This includes, but is not limited to, any firm or individual involved in the preparation of this Request for Proposal. c) Any Sub-contracting of the service to any firm or individual after the award of a Contract must have prior approval by the City ASSIGNMENT This RFP and any resulting contract may not be assigned by either party without the prior written consent and approval of the other party, which consent may not be unreasonable withheld; provided however, either party, without such consent, may assign or sell the same in connection with the transfer or sale of substantially its entire business to which this contract pertains or in the event of its merger or consolidation with another company. Any permitted assignee shall assume all obligations of its assignor under this contract. No assignment shall relieve any party of responsibility for the performance of any accrued obligation that such party then has hereunder ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSALS a) This Request for Proposal should not be construed as an agreement to purchase goods or services. The City is not bound to accept the lowest priced or any proposal of those submitted. Proposals will be assessed in light of the evaluation criteria. The City will be under no obligation to receive further information, whether written or oral, from any Proponent. b) either acceptance of a proposal nor execution of a Contract will constitute approval of any activity or development contemplated in any proposal that requires any approval, permit or license pursuant to any federal, provincial, regional City or municipal statute, regulation or by-law OWNERSHIP OF PROPOSALS AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION All documents, including proposals, submitted to the City become the property of the City. They will be received and held in confidence by the City, subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. For additional information, please go to: ault.asp

9 2.32 USE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL This document, or any portion thereof, may not be used for any purpose other than the submission of proposals CONFLICT OF INTEREST Any potential conflict of interest must be disclosed to the City in writing. Any conflict of interest identified will be considered and evaluated by the City. The City has the sole discretion to take the steps they deem necessary to resolve the conflict. If, during the term of the Contract, a conflict or risk of conflict of interest arises, the Contractor will notify the City immediately in writing of that conflict or risk and take any steps that the City reasonably requires to resolve the conflict or deal with the risk RECIPROCITY The City may consider and evaluate any proposals from other jurisdictions on the same basis that the government purchasing authorities in those jurisdictions would treat a similar proposal from a City of Prince Rupert supplier LAWS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA This Request for Proposal will be governed by and will be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Province of British Columbia. 2:36 PROPOSAL LENGTH The Response to this RFP shall be limited to a maximum of thirty-five (35) pages using a minimum size 10 font. Any response exceeding thirty-five (35) pages will not be read or considered. 3.0 SCOPE OF WORK 3.1 REQUIREMENTS AND SCOPE OF SERVICE The City of Prince Rupert invites proposals to provide the following Insurance Brokerage, Risk Management, and other services to include, but not limited to: a) Marketing the City s insurance program to reputable and financially secure insurers to obtain the best overall coverage and favorable terms. The successful Proponent will be required to start marketing the City s insurance program as appropriate in anticipation of the City s February 15, 2013, General insurance program renewal; b) Risk Management. From time to time the City may require advice and assistance on a diverse range of risk management strategies including fleet safety, alternate risk financing, cost of risk analysis, retention analysis, risk mapping and more; c) Loss Control/Prevention Services. Occasionally the City may require loss control/prevention services and advice;

10 d) Claims Management. Where the City has claims with its insurers, the broker will be expected to assist with expediting the claims, including any research required. This is expected for all claims arising during the term of appointment even if they originate prior to the appointment; e) Skilled and knowledgeable staff that are available to respond to telephone enquiries during business hours, and after hours in emergency; f) Provide certificates of insurance within two working days; g) Evaluate retention levels and coverage needs, making recommendations in the program to maximize coverage and minimize costs, as appropriate and consistent with the City s corporate objectives; h) Prepare regular reports identifying anticipated market conditions, and to conduct pre-marketing meetings to discuss insurance needs, insurance wordings and marketing strategies; i) Evaluate the commitment and financial security & capacity of insurers; j) Perform periodic environmental scan to identify opportunities and insurance markets and options to meet the City s needs; k) Prepare, review and deliver all policy documents in a timely manner; l) Bind insurance coverage after all wordings have been agreed to by the City; m) Service existing insurance policies, and new ones placed, including checking the policy wordings for appropriate content and accuracy; n) Attend meetings as required with City staff; o) Facilitate meetings with City staff and insurance markets / underwriters where desired or required; p) Submit an annual stewardship report prior to the anniversary date of appointment; q) Enter into a five (5) year agreement with the City to expire in February 15, 2018, with the option, at the City s sole discretion, of extension for subsequent years. r) Provide annually, a current insurance program overview report including descriptions of coverage, highlights and graphing the City s insurance program, claim history, and underwriting data, at a time directed by the City; s) The broker and all of the team members servicing the City s account must be duly qualified and licensed to act as an agent or broker in the province of British Columbia. 3.2 In addition, the Proponent may propose any other related services that it believes may be beneficial or desirable to the City, and identify any additional costs associated with these services. ANTICIPATED TIMEFRAMES

11 The following outlines the anticipated schedule for the Request for Proposal and contract process. The timing and sequence of events resulting from this Request for Proposal may vary and shall ultimately be determined by the City of Prince Rupert. Event Anticipated Date Request for Proposal issued December 6, 2012 Last Date for Submission of Questions January 4, 2013 Request for Proposal closes January 18, 2013 Review of Proposals January 18 February 31, 2013 Contract Award February 1, 2013 Renewal of Standard Insurance Policy February 15, EVALUATION CRITERIA The following criteria outlines the primary considerations to be used in the evaluation and consequent awarding of this RFP (not in any order). The City reserves the right to prioritize and weigh the importance of each criterion confidentially.

12 4.1 EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS 30% 1) EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS OF PROPONENT COMPANY Provide a description of your firm, including the following: a) a general statement of specialization and expertise; b) the size of the firm nationwide and globally, and of the account office in terms of people and businesses; c) How many years has your company been conducting business as an insurance broker? (Please provide a copy of you latest annual report. Provide a brief history of your company.) d) the business carried out by the office and the firm nationwide and globally in terms of classes of business, premium volume (can be summarized in charts), types of insurance marketed, and the other services offered; d) years of local experience in providing the identified services to similar corporate clients - provide list of the municipalities and risk managed accounts which are currently serviced locally. If you include previous clients, please identify this in the list. e) provide a statement on your firm's corporate policy with regard to contingent commissions and how you will ensure the fair placement of the City's insurance program should your firm be awarded the contract. f) provide a list of the top 3 insurance companies your firm would recommend for each of the policies you would place for the City. This request should not be misconstrued to mean you are allowed to approach any insurance companies on our behalf. Your firm will be immediately disqualified from this RFP if you do so as stated in the Introduction. 2) EXPERTISE AND QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL The Proponent shall provide: a) an organizational description and/or chart showing the staffing and lines of authority for the key personnel to be used in providing the services, including account executives, engineers, risk financing personnel, marketing and claims personnel and others who would interact with the City; b) the name of the individual within your firm that is proposed to have overall responsibility for the City s account (account executive), the name of the alternate to that person, and their ability to access the capabilities of the firm; c) the names, education, certifications and qualifications (or resumes) of staff proposed to offer service to the City; d) association memberships, board or like memberships;

13 e) summary of experience these personnel have provided to local and regional governments; and f) names of any subcontractors or agents (other than employees) proposed to be used, including details of services to be contracted.

14 4.2 SERVICE, COMMUNICATION, REPORTS & RISK MANAGEMENT 25% 1) SERVICE Outline how you would structure your service and team for this account from a day-to-day, yearly and project basis. a) your proposal should include your marketing and servicing plan of action should your firm be selected as a broker of the City s account, and the timeframes to perform these functions; b) describe the risk management, exposure analysis, loss prevention, loss control (including audits) and other technical services that you would be able to provide to the City. Identify costs of those that would not be included in any fixed annual fee quoted; These services may include specific techniques, procedures and personnel that you will employ for: I. Risk identification and analysis; II. Claims review; III. Loss trending; IV. Internal funding of risk cost associated with self-insured/non-insured exposure; V. Insurance program design, procurement & renewal process; VI. Special risk evaluation and loss control projects as requested; VII. Loss Control Reports - describe what they would include. c) describe the claims support you are prepared to offer the City account and describe your firm s ability to assist the City with claims negotiations with insurers d) describe any special expertise or experience that your firm may have in providing services to the City, including the range of services available; e) outline your service philosophy and provide standard response times and additional costs, if any, for the services described; f) how the account manager and team will maintain high quality service to the City in consideration of other commitments by the account executive and team; g) an overview of the current commitments of the account manager proposed to be assigned to the City including total number of clients served and total number of municipal clients served. h) describe any brokerage services you would be unable to provide internally and how you would assist the City in meeting those needs if required?

15 2) COMMUNICATION a) describe the means by which you would keep abreast of the City s activities, exposures and ongoing needs; and b) describe the method and the frequency by which information relevant to the City, i.e. market changes, would be communicated. 3) REPORTS a) Annual Marketing Strategy and Stewardship reports are required. b) As applicable, identify any other reports that would be beneficial to the City, and their cost, if any, your firm would provide. 4.3 COMPENSATION 25% a) Outline in detail proposed basis of your brokerage s remuneration. The City is willing to consider compensation either on a commission or a fixed fee for services basis. b) if appropriate, provide cost for any additional services discussed in the proposal not included in the annual fee. 4.4 References - 10% a) contact names and telephone numbers of four existing clients and four former clients of the local office of a similar size and/or complexity to the City (preferably risk managed accounts). Any or all references provided by Proponent may be contacted by members of the review committee to confirm the information provided in the proposal and the nature and quality of the services provided. 4.5 Interview - 10% a) After an initial review of all the proposals The City intends to develop a shortlist of companies and conduct interviews. This will provide The City to meet the prospective Account Executive and other team members and ask questions regarding the contents of their proposal. Interviews will be conducted in Vancouver.