Hertfordshire County Council: The Provision of an Insurable Risk Transfer Framework

UK-Hertford: Insurance services.

Section I: Contracting Authority
   I.1)Name, Addresses and Contact Point(s):
      Hertfordshire County Council
      County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SD13 8DQ, United Kingdom
      Tel. +44 1707292463, Email: zoe.upson@hertfordshire.gov.uk, URL: www.hertsdirect.org.uk, URL: http://supplyhertfordshire.g2b.info/hpf
      Contact: Zoe Upson
      Electronic Access URL: http://supplyhertfordshire.g2b.info/hpf/ following the instructions given in VI.3 (Additional Information).
      Electronic Submission URL: http://supplyhertfordshire.g2b.info/hpf/ following the instructions given in VI.3 (Additional Information).

      Further information can be obtained at: As Above       
      Specifications and additional documents: As Above       
      Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: As Above       
   
   I.2)Type of the contracting authority:
      Regional or local authority

   I.3) Main activity:
      General Public Services
      Economic and Financial Affairs

   I.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities:
      The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: Yes

Section II: Object Of The Contract: SERVICES
   II.1)Description
      II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority: The Provision of an Insurable Risk Transfer Framework
      II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance: SERVICES         
         Service Category: 6

         Region Codes: UKH23 - Hertfordshire         
      II.1.3) Information about a public contract, a framework or a dynamic purchasing system: The notice involves the setting up of a framework agreement                                                        

      II.1.4)Information on framework agreement:      
            Framework agreement with several operators
            maximum number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged: 10
         Duration of the framework agreement:
                        Duration in months: 36
         Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement:
                                    
            Range between: 20,000,000 and 500,000,000
            Currency: GBP
                  
      II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase:
      Insurance services. The Council is taking the lead, in consultation with other Participating Bodies in the South East of England, to establish a multi Broker Framework Agreement for the appointment of a Broker(s) to work with the Council and any Participating Body to manage the total cost of insurable risk. For the avoidance of doubt those authorities covered by this agreement are covered in the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7448/1622442.pdf.

The Framework Agreement value ranges between £20,000,000 and £500,000,000 over the possible four (4) years.

This Framework Agreement shall have a Framework Agreement Period of three (3) years with the option to extend on an annual basis for up to a maximum of a further one (1) year at the sole discretion of the Council.

The total cost of insurable risk will include, but not be limited to;
   insurance costs,
   non-insurance costs (i.e. self-insured cost retained within self-insured deductibles),
   claims handling costs,
   risk management costs.

A Framework Agreement will be established which can be used by other Participating Bodies and, indeed, any contracting authority (as identified in this OJEU notice) wishing to appoint insurance Broker(s) to manage the total cost of insurable risk.

Brokers applying to be included on the Framework Agreement must demonstrate their ability to broke and place the insurable risk detailed in Specification A (Schedule 1 of Volume II) including in-house capabilities and details of any exclusive facilities and to deliver the core Services detailed in Specification B (Schedule 1 of Volume II)

Brokers are asked to provide details of how they will access markets, including Lloyds, and work to generate competition for the Council’s risk and insurance programme. Appointment to the Framework Agreement will allow the Broker to use their skills and resources to support the Council in managing the total cost of insurable risk with the ability to design an insurance programme using their experience to determine the optimum balance between insured / self-insured risks to deliver best value.

As an appointed Broker on the Framework Agreement the Broker will have the ability to engage with the wider insurance market including Lloyds and the Broker’s specialist facilities, to negotiate the best value insurance policy for any contracting authority who utilises the Framework Agreement without the need to undertake a separate OJEU exercise for the procurement of the insurances.

It is a pass/fail requirement that any Broker appointed on to the Framework Agreement must give direct insurers (e.g. Zurich Municipal) the opportunity of quoting for the insurances required by the Council or any Participating Body
         
      II.1.6)Common Procurement Vocabulary:
         66510000 - Insurance services.
         

      II.1.7) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
         The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): Yes       
      II.1.8)Lots:
         This contract is divided into lots: No
      II.1.9)Information about variants:
         Variants will be accepted: No    
   
   II.2)Quantity Or Scope Of The Contract
      II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:
      Further details of the requirement are available on the following link: http://supplyhertfordshire.g2b.info/hpf/      
      
      II.2.2)Options: No          
         II.2.3)Information about renewals:
            This contract is subject to renewal: Not Provided         
   II.3)Duration Of The Contract Or Time-Limit For Completion      
         Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

   Information About Lots
               
Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial And Technical Information
   III.1)Conditions relating to the contract
      III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:
      Not Provided
      
      III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
      Not Provided
      
      III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
      Not Provided
      
      III.1.4)Other particular conditions:
         The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: Not Provided      
   III.2)Conditions For Participation
      III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers:
      Not Provided      
      III.2.2)Economic and financial capacity
         Economic and financial capacity - means of proof required:         
         Not Provided
      
      III.2.3)Technical capacity
         Technical capacity - means of proof required         
         Not Provided      
      III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts: Not Provided   
   III.3)Conditions Specific To Service Contracts
      III.3.1)Information about a particular profession:
         Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: Not Provided      
      III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service:
         Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: Not Provided
Section IV: Procedure
   IV.1)Type Of Procedure
      IV.1.1)Type of procedure: Open
   
   IV.2)Award Criteria
      IV.2.1)Award criteria:      
         The most economically advantageous tender in terms of
            The criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

      IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction:
         An electronic auction will be used: No       

   IV.3)Administrative Information
      IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority: HCC Contract Reference Number: HCC1306044. Tender Access Code: TFC93538JU      
      IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract: No

      IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document:


         Not Provided      
      
      IV.3.4)Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
         Date: 24/04/2013
         Time: 12:00      
      IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up:         English
         
      IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
         Duration in month(s): 6
      
      IV.3.8)Conditions for opening tenders
         Not Provided

Section VI: Complementary Information

   VI.1)This Is A Recurrent Procurement: No
   VI.2)Information about European Union funds:
      The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No       
   VI.3)Additional Information: PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AS IT PROVIDES FULLINSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO APPLY FOR THIS REQUIREMENT
The Council has moved to a new way of e-Tendering and worked closely with its Districts and Partners to create a joint procurement website called Supply Hertfordshire. This website is supported by BiP Solutions who provide a system called Delta which is the background platform to Supply Hertfordshire.

To participate in this tender you will need to go into http://supplyhertfordshire.g2b.info/ and register or log in.

Step 1: Registering with Supply Hertfordshire
To participate in this tender you will need to go intohttp://supplyhertfordshire.g2b.info/hpf/ and register, thereafter you will be issued with a USERNAME and PASSWORD. (If you have already registered with Delta or Supply Hertfordshire, please follow the link above where you can log on using your existing username and password. If you have registered and have forgotten your Username and Password, please click on the forgotten password link below the log in box.) Please keep this USERNAME and PASSWORD secure, and do not pass it to any third parties.

Step 2: Completing your Tender Documents
To obtain and complete the Tender Documents, you will need to go into the Response Manager area and enter the Access Code TFC93538JU. This is a one stage process and bids must be completed and submitted electronically by using the Tenderbox (Access Code: TFC93538JU)through BiP’s Delta and by the due date of 12 noon on Wednesday 24th April 2013 When replying please ensure that you have read and understood all the necessary documentation and provided all the information requested. The Council reserves the right to reject a bid received after this deadline.

Bidders must ensure that these online Invitation to Tender (ITT) documents can be accessed and ensure that a response to this invitation is submitted prior to the closing date and time. Please ensure that after uploading all of your documents you click on the “Submit Response” button in order to complete the process. You should then see an on-screen confirmation message that you have successfully completed the process.

Please make sure you have submitted your completed tender bid to the correct Access Code, the Council will not be held accountable for any errors made by a Bidder in submitting your completed documents. The Delta system does not permit bids to be submitted after the closing time and date.

Bidders are advised to submit their bids at least two working days prior to the due date and time to ensure any issues with uploading the documents can be resolved before the Tenderbox closes. Multiple documents can only be uploaded one at a time or can all be 'zipped' together using an application like WinZip.
   
If you are experiencing problems with the system, then please contact the Delta helpdesk between 8.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, for further assistance via: email at helpdesk@delta-esourcing.com or telephone: 0845 270 7050.

The Council reserves the right at any time to cease the tendering process and not award a contract or to award only part of the opportunity described in this notice. If the Council takes up this right then they will not be responsible for, or pay the expenses or losses, which may be incurred by any tenderer as a result.

The Council undertakes to hold confidential any information provided in the proposal submitted, subject to the Council's obligations under the law, including the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If the applicant considers that any of the information submitted in the proposal should not be disclosed because of its sensitivity then this should be stated with the reason for considering it sensitive. The Council will then endeavour to consult with the applicant about such sensitive information when considering any request received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 before replying to such a request.

Due to the current economic climate, Hertfordshire County Council reserves the right to carry out additional financial checks on all companies tendering for this Contract at any time during the procurement process, to ensure that they continue to meet the Council's requirements and remain financially viable to perform the Contract.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Hertford:-Insurance-services./TFC93538JU

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/TFC93538JU
GO-2013314-PRO-4657457 TKR-2013314-PRO-4657456
   
   VI.4)Procedures For Appeal
      VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures:
      See VI.4.2

      VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals: Hertfordshire County Council will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers to allow unsuccessful tenderers to raise any complaints before the contract is entered into.

If a complaint between the Council and the tenderer regarding the award of a contract has not been successfully resolved, relevant provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) will apply. The aggrieved party is advised to seek independent legal advice in relation to remedies they can pursue under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended).   
   
      VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:
            Hertfordshire County Council
      Leahoe Annexe, Hertford, SG13 8DQ, United Kingdom
      Tel. +44 1992588834

   VI.5) Date Of Dispatch Of This Notice: 14/03/2013

ANNEX A

   IV) Address of the other contracting authority on behalf of which the contracting authority is purchasing
      Purchased on behalf of other contracting authority details:
         1: Contracting Authority
      A full list of participating bodies for the South East is listed under the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7448/1622442.pdf )
      see link above, see link above, United Kingdom