Allstate sells more via phone Internet

NEW YORK - Northbrook-based Allstate Corp., the biggest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, said it's selling more policies to individuals by telephone and the Internet.

"We have a robust direct premium that's growing significantly," Robert Block of Allstate's investor relations said Wednesday at a conference organized by KBW Inc. in New York.

Sales through the company's so-called direct channel were $292 million in the first half, compared with about $500 million for the full year in 2008, according to slides accompanying Block's presentation to investors.