The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration has a continuing requirement for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) standard operations contractor support services.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) mission is to help people before, during, and after disasters. Under the Office of FEMA Resilience, the Federal Insurance Directorate’s (FID) mission is to provide customer focused flood insurance to help survivors and their communities effectively recover from flood events.
As part of this mission, FID manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which was created by The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA). The NFIP aims to reduce disaster suffering by helping customers better understand their flood risk and the importance of flood insurance, providing affordable insurance to property owners, renters, and businesses as well as encouraging communities to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations.

FID administers the Write Your Own (WYO) program, which enables participating private insurance companies to sell and service the flood insurance product as fiscal agents of the Federal Government. FID also offers policies directly for sale through its NFIP Direct Program.
Overall, the NFIP currently serves more than 4.7 million policies and $1.3 trillion in coverage in more than 22,500 participating communities. More than 80 percent of these policies are sold and serviced through private insurance companies participating in the WYO program, all of whom must report every transaction to the NFIP.

The WYO companies have been invaluable in the NFIP’s effort to increase the flood insurance policy base and the geographic distribution of policyholders. In addition, WYOs improve service to policyholders as well as insurance agents, and enhance the NFIP’s ability to settle claims promptly and fairly in post-catastrophe environments. NFIP industry vendors support the direct sale and servicing of NFIP policies; communications; technology operations, maintenance, and development; standard business operations (current requirement); and financial reporting. Universal objectives, assumptions, and constraints applicable are provided below and apply to all contracts that support the NFIP.

• Universal Objectives:
• NFIP Key Priorities:
  • Continue to Transform the NFIP Delivery Model: Enable the digital sale and servicing of flood insurance to increase the number of people covered.
  • Deliver flexible, diverse, and data informed products that provide the customer greater choice and access through simplified policy forms that meet policyholders’ needs and are easier for agents.
  • Continue to improve the customer experience by leveraging technology and innovation to enhance the policyholder experience and meet customer expectations.
• Universal Assumptions and Constraints
  • All activities align with DHS/FEMA strategic goals and constraints.
  • Pivot is the NFIP’s System of Record (SOR).
  • FEMA is updating policy forms, and while some will be finalized, not all will be completely in place at the time of contract award.
  • The NFIP will continue to operate according to the current authorization and regulations but must ensure flexibility for changes.
  • The NFIP will embrace data and fraud analytics to drive better operations through improved oversight, speed, quality, and customer service.
  • The NFIP will leverage data analytics and behavioral science to better inform decisions and improve the program’s marketing and engagement approach.
  • The NFIP will embrace industry-standard customer experience models (online sales, mobile claims through smartphone applications, agents at the contact center, etc.).
  • The NFIP will strengthen and expand partnerships—including through incentives.
  • Outreach activities are coordinated, integrated, and consistent with NFIP messaging.
  • Data security and privacy issues are major focus of the federal Government’s information technology efforts. All program activities must be compliant with current Government Information Security Reform Act, Office of Management and Budget policies, DHS, and FEMA requirements.
  • Solutions must include transition plans detailing how continuity of services will be maintained (e.g., operations of IT systems in various states of health and development, ongoing marketing and sales efforts, program management, etc.)

FEMA requires a Flood Insurance Management Expert:

• Possesses demonstrated relevant experience providing Flood Insurance Management subject matter expertise, staff augmentation, audit support, and Flood disaster response at a national level.
• The NFIP Standard Operations Contractor shall support the NFIP administration of the WYOs and NFIP Direct at the required high volume and complexity of flood insurance policies. The NFIP Direct Contractor is the Nation’s second-largest handler of federal flood insurance policies. The NFIP Direct book of business includes specific policies which require unique and specialized handling, including GFIPs and SRLs. This large volume of work is highly complex and provides Nationwide support.
• The NFIP Standard Operations Contractor must possess the capacity to rapidly surge for flood disaster response before, during and after a disaster event. The Contractor also provides SME level phone support for the WYO’s by expert flood insurance trained professionals.
• The NFIP Standard Operations Contractor must possess the ability to rapidly adjust business operations based on Congressional or other mandates.
• The NFIP Standard Operations Contractor must also support pilot programs, new program initiatives and other special projects to enhance delivery of the NFIP