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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION

I, Robert Rosenkranz, certify that:

   1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Delphi Financial Group,
      Inc. (the "registrant");

   2. Based on my knowledge, this 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;

   3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this 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;

   4. The registrant'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 registrant 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
            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;

         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 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

         d. 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

   5. The registrant's other certifying officer 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 functions):

         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

         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.

Date: February 28, 2007

                                    /s/ ROBERT ROSENKRANZ
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                                    Robert Rosenkranz
                                    Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
                                    Officer