Exhibit 31(b)

# Certification Pursuant
to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Allen W. Ritchie, certify that:

|1. | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Protective Life and
          Annuity Insurance Company;
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|2. | Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
          the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
          were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
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|3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information
          included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the
          financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
          of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
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|4. | The registrants other certifying officers and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
          Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:
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| | a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures or caused such disclosure
               controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
               material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
               subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
               during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | b) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and
               procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
               of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
               by this report based on such evaluation; and
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| | c) | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control
               over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent
               fiscal quarter (the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
               annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
               materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial
               reporting; and
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|5. | The registrants other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on
          our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
          registrants auditors and the audit committee of registrants board of
          directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):
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| | a) | all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation
               of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
               adversely affect the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and
               report financial information; and
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| | b) | any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
               who have a significant role in the registrants internal control over
               financial reporting.
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Date:      August 16, 2004

/s/ Allen W. Ritchie
                   
    
Title:    Executive Vice
President and                   
      Chief Financial Officer