Exhibit 31.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002


I, Michael H. Lee, certify that:

1.   I have reviewed the Quarterly Report of Tower Group, Inc. (the "Company")
     on Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2006 as filed with the
     Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the "Report");

2.   Based on my knowledge, the 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 the Report;

3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
     information included in the Report, fairly present in all material respects
     the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
     Company as of, and for, the periods presented in the Report;

4.   The Company's other certifying officer 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) and internal control over
     financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a - 15(f) and 15d -
     15(f)) for the Company and have:

     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
          Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
          by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
          which the Report is being prepared;

     b)   designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
          such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
          our supervision to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
          reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
          statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
          accounting principles;

     c)   evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and
          procedures and presented in the Report our conclusions about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of the period covered by the Report based on such evaluation; and

     d)   disclosed in the Report any changes in the Company's internal control
          over financial reporting that occurred during the Company's first
          quarter of 2006 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
          to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial
          reporting; and

5.   The Company's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
     most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
     Company's auditors and to the audit committee of the Board of Directors:

     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 Company's ability to record,
          process, summarize and report financial information; and

     b)   any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant role in the Company's internal
          control over financial reporting.


/s/ Michael H. Lee
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Michael H. Lee
Chief Executive Officer
May 5, 2006

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