NFIP Direct Services

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - INSURANCE CONTRACT SUPPORT FOR NFIP DIRECT SERVICES The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has developed this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit market research information from industry. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. It is not a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication that FEMA will contract for the items contained in the RFI. This RFI is part of a Government market research effort to determine the scope of industry capabilities and interest and will be treated as information only. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and the Government will not pay respondents for information provided in response to this RFI. Responses to this RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. If a Solicitation is issued, it will be posted as required by the selected acquisition approach and all interested parties must respond to that Solicitation separately from any response to this announcement. This RFI does not restrict the Government's acquisition approach on a future Solicitation. NO PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED OR ACCEPTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS SYNOPSIS AND NO CONTRACT SHALL BE AWARDED AS A RESULT OF THIS RFI. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this RFI or any follow up information requests. It is requested and appreciated that all contractors interested in participating in this market research effort note their interest by responding to the areas identified in the "Company Details", "Capabilities Statement", and "General Questions" sections below. The purpose of this RFI is to assess industry capabilities, including small business' ability to provide a total solution, and to receive industry comments on: - The draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) including (but not limited to) technical questions and comments, and what edits may be needed to enable FEMA to achieve the universal objectives stated here - Contract type and pricing considerations - Related acquisition considerations for the competitively contracted services for Insurance Contract Support for the National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP Direct COMPANY DETAILS The page limit for responses to this section is one (1) page. Provide company point(s) of contact information (name, email address, address, telephone, fax numbers and DUNS number) Identify if your company falls under any of the following business concern statuses (include all that apply): Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB); Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB); Small Business (SB); Certified Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) firm; Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB); Economically Disadvantage Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB); Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB); Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HubZone) Small Business; Large Business. Provide contracting vehicles your company holds, such as GSA schedules. CAPABILITIES STATEMENT The page limit for responses to this section is no more than ten (10) pages. Provide an overview, detailing your firm's capabilities to fulfill all the requirements within the PWS, to include organizational and staff capability and experience. Provide a brief narrative summary of your technical approach to meet NFIP's requirements within the draft PWS. Provide up to three (3) contracts that your company has performed for the same or similar requirement and of comparable size, complexity and scope. Describe scope and similarities and differences as pertinent. Identify tools that were part of your solution. Please be specific and provide a complete reference to include: contract number, contract title, description, period of performance, and award amount; as well as identify whether you performed as a prime contractor, sub-contractor, teaming partner, or as a project manager. Provide a write up of your ability to obtain and maintain an Authority to Operate, should it be needed, for any proposed IT solutions. GENERAL QUESTIONS The page limit for responses in this section is five (10 pages inclusive of feedback on the PWS). Provide feedback and recommend any changes to better support the requirements detailed in the PWS. (1) Is the PWS clear, concise, and/or enough to develop and submit the required information in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP)? (2) Discuss any concerns, comments, or recommendations you may have with the attached draft PWS. We are particularly interested in your views on: - What is the NFIP Direct's role in mitigation, and reducing disaster suffering? - What elements are required in an effective agent marketing strategy? - How does the NFIP Direct deliver technological enhancements given government cybersecurity and privacy constraints? What enhancements should FEMA consider for Pivot and what role should the NFIP Direct play in those enhancements? - How can FEMA directly sell policies to potential policyholders? - What are the critical success factors for healthy collaboration between the NFIP Direct and WYOs? - What obstacles exist that could prevent or delay FEMA from meeting the universal objectives or PWS elements listed in this RFI? (3) Is 30 days enough time for an Offeror to prepare a proposal given the scenario of a full trade-off best value source selection requiring a technical and price proposal and past performance references? (4) Are there any pricing, terms and conditions, and/or business practices that are uniquely prevalent or customary in the industry that the NFIP should consider? (5) What contract type(s) is/are best suited for the requirement described in the PWS? (6) Would your firm require any additional information, such as specific historical data, to successfully respond to a formal solicitation and/or propose a firm fixed price for the tasks identified in the PWS? No inquiries will be answered at this time and respondents shall not be notified of the results of the market research. Again, this document is merely for market research and planning purposes only and does not constitute a commitment, implied, or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued nor will the Government pay or reimburse for information solicited or produced and may not be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. Vendor comments may be incorporated and used to develop the final PWS as well as the solicitation. Responders to this RFI will not automatically be notified of any potential solicitation; therefore, interested parties should be vigilant in looking for and must respond to the official solicitation announcement when it is posted as required by the selected acquisition approach. Submissions must be submitted electronically as a Microsoft Word or an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF); no other document format or type will be accepted. It is important to note that there is a system wide size limitation on e-mail attachments of 10MB per e-mail message. It is highly recommended that respondents check the total size of the response before sending and if necessary submit responses on sequential e-mails. Questions pertaining to this RFI are due to the Contracting Officer, Michael Sutton, contact@example.gov and Contract Specialist William Tillman, contact@example.gov not later than 2:00 PM (EST) on Friday, August 23rd 2019. The subject line of the email shall contain the following: Questions for Sources Sought Notice 70FA6019I00000010 - NFIP Direct Services. Only electronic submissions will be accepted and are to be sent only to the Contracting Officer, Michael Sutton, contact@example.gov and Contract Specialist William Tillman, contact@example.gov not later than 2:00 PM (EST) on Tuesday, September, 10th 2019. The subject line of the email shall contain the following: Response to Sources Sought Notice 70FA6019I00000010 - NFIP Direct Services. At this time, one-on-one telephone due diligence sessions are not planned but may be considered should the government deem them necessary to obtain sufficient level of knowledge required for the completion of the market research.