Two companies that provide insurance for hole-in-one contests at golf charity events have been ordered not to write policies in Virginia.

The companies, Hole-In-One.com and Golf Marketing Worldwide, based in Norwalk, Conn., and their founder, Kevin Kolenda, who also uses the pseudonym “Tim Kirchoff,” offered the insurance coverage over the Internet to organizations and companies who sponsor hole-in-one contests at golf charity events and tournaments.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance said the companies and Kolenda, who also lives in Norwalk, Conn., have never been licensed in Virginia, a requirement to sell contractual liability coverage to state residents.

Kolenda, who also served as president and marketing representative for the companies, and the companies were sanctioned by insurance regulators in Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington state, Virginia records show.

Kolenda used various alternate names in addition to “Tim Kirchoff,” according to Virginia authorities, who say the companies marketed themselves through two websites – www.hole-in-one. com and www.holeinone. com.

Companies and organizations often offer prizes ranging from golf club sets, to cars to $1 million to any golfer participating in a tournament or golf charity event who makes a hole-in-one, typically on a par 3 hole. The coverage the companies provided indemnified the sponsor against the risk of someone succeeding in getting a hole-in-one.

A statement at the website in November 2009 suggested that the business had “grown into a million dollar, worldwide corporation that serviced over 60,000 clients, paid out over $10,000,000.00 in awards throughout all of the U.S. and internationally,” according to Virginia regulators.

Details of the deals

Contracts were handled by email, after a person provided though the website basic information, including the date of the tournament, number of participants, hole yardage and prizes to be offered, according to Virginia regulators. Based on that information, the person received a policy quote by email. To obtain coverage, people had to fax back a signed contract and pay by credit card, then they received an email containing the declarations page describing the event for which coverage was obtained and a receipt verifying payment, regulators said.

Records show a number of applications and approvals for coverage of events in Virginia, despite the companies not being licensed.

Angie Nichols of Radford, Va., and an employee of the Children’s Health Improvement Partnership paid $144 for coverage for the CHIP Tournament June 1, 2007 and then $154 a year later for the June 8, 2008, CHIP Tournament.

Chico Motley, business manager of the BMW of Sterling, based in Sterling, Va., paid $235 on Sept. 21, 2007, for coverage for the hole-in-one contest at the Shirley O. Nelson Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament, held that same day.

On April 24, 2008, Robert Morris, a Mechanicsville, Va., resident and president of the ASK Foundation, which provides support to children with cancer, paid $263 for coverage for its Aug. 18, 2008, ASK Foundation Golf Classic.

James Roberts, a resident of Dahlgren, Va., paid $150 for coverage for the May 16, 2008, annual golf tournament of the St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in King George, Va., which he organized.

Virginia law requires those providing contractual liability insurance to have state insurance licenses.

The entities had been issued an order seeking information in November 2009, but letters were returned as undeliverable. The final action was taken Jan. 8.