Exhibit 31.1
  CERTIFICATION
    PURSUANT TO
    SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
    1.
    I have reviewed the Annual Report of Tower Group, Inc. (the
    Company) on
    Form 10-K
    for the period ending December 31, 2008 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 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 change in the Companys
    internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
    the Companys fourth quarter of 2008 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 Companys 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.  March 13, 2009

/s/  Michael
    H. LeeMichael
    H. Lee
    Chief Executive Officer