BY CRAIG GILBERT
The company that has been the city?s insurance adjuster since 1989 is raising concerns over the municipal tendering process after losing a tender for five more years to a firm they say could needlessly cost taxpayers over $40,000.
In fact, SCS Insurance Adjusters Ltd. vice-president and lead adjuster for the city?s file Greg Gauthier, believes the request for proposals (RFP) process is ?flawed? and city staff play favourites.
?We won,? Gauthier said Friday. ?That?s our attitude. It didn?t suit the bureaucrats, so they chose to fudge the numbers to put in who they wanted to.?
Following a staff recommendation, city council awarded a new contract to Canadian Shield Adjusters Thursday night with a bid many councillors
agree appears to be higher than SCS Insurance?s final bid. The new contract kicks in Jan. 1, 2005.
Gauthier indicated nothing is final, but the firm is considering further action against the city.
Six firms bid on the contract, all claiming they could do it for cheaper than SCS has in years past. In fact, SCS?s current contract was extended into 2004 with an option for 2005, but council wanted to see if they could get it cheaper.
Gauthier claims the higher hourly rate quoted by Canadian Shield will result in at least $40,000 in additional costs to the city. The contract has in years past been worth about $200,000, he said.
Cost and experience of the lead adjuster were the most important criteria for the staff committee making the selection.
In a recognized scoring system, SCS scored 72 out of 100, third to Canadian Shield adjusters, at 77. Miller + Associates Adjusters scored 75.
SCS has ?never had an inquiry, letter of direction or an unsolved enquiry? and bid lower than the firms that finished first and second in the competition.
But they lost the contract to Canadian Shield, a local adjuster that scored higher on the experience of lead adjuster criteria (28 out of 30 compared to 12 for SCS).
That confuses Gauthier, since the lead adjusters at Miller and Canadian Shield were trained by SCS.
His father and the president of SCS, Gary Gauthier, expressed his concern in a letter to council dated Nov. 23.
?We are concerned about the process of evaluating the RFP, particularly since the adjuster and adjusting firm that was successful from Canadian Shield, was trained by the writer and the firm who came second, Miller Adjusters, were also trained by the writer for the period of the last 15 to 20 years.?
The loss will result in changes at SCS since the contract is one of the larger files they handle.
?A company is set up to adequately handle its caseload,? he said. ?When you lose a file, things change.?
The staff committee responsible for the selection process unanimously endorsed Canadian Shield Adjusters ?because of their extensive municipal experience and competitive pricing,? according to their report.
Some members of council were confused staff recommended Canadian Shield when the city?s current adjuster proposed a lower price. But Ward 3 Councillor Ron Dupuis warned against meddling with the selection process.
?When politicians get involved in the tendering process, we get problems,? he said, voting along with seven other councillors to accept staff?s top
pick.
