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                                                                      EXHIBIT 23

                         CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

The Board of Directors
Selective Insurance Group, Inc.:

The audits referred to in our report dated February 6, 2001 incorporated by
reference in the December 31, 2000 annual report on Form 10-K, included the
related financial statement schedules as of December 31, 2000, and for each of
the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2000. These financial
statement schedules are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statement schedules
based on our audits. In our opinion, such financial statement schedules, when
considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a
whole, present fairly in all material respects the information set forth
therein.

We consent to incorporation by reference in the registration statements (No.'s
333-10477, 33-22450, 333-37501 and 333-10465) on Form S-8, and the registration
statements (No.'s 2-80881 and 33-30833) on Form S-3 of Selective Insurance
Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries of our reports dated February 6, 2001, relating
to the consolidated balance sheets of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. and its
subsidiaries as of December 31, 2000 and 1999, and the related consolidated
statements of income, stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the years
in the three-year period ended December 31, 2000, and all related schedules,
which reports appear in, or are incorporated by reference in, the December 31,
2000 annual report on Form 10-K of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. and its
subsidiaries.


/s/ KPMG LLP

New York, New York
March 30, 2000