Five national organizations, funded in large part by insurers, provide considerable research and data collection to help homeowners, motorists, renters and small-business owners make the right decisions.

Planning on buying a vehicle? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety can help you know how safe a vehicle is and how it will protect you and your passengers. This organization is for crash-testing vehicles, but its overall mission is dedicated to reducing the losses -- deaths, injuries, and property damage -- from crashes on the nation's highways. Vehicles are rated for their safety features and ability to protect passengers.

Its sister organization, The Highway Loss Data Institute, provides scientific studies with insurance data to document the human and economic losses resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehicles, and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make and model. That helps insurers rate vehicles for their safety and crashworthiness. Just recently, IIHS released new crash test results for four small SUVs.

Here's a very important site, especially as tropical storms threaten coastal Georgia and other nearby states. The Institute for Business and Home Safety's mission is to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other property losses by conducting research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparation practices.

IBHS studies how high winds affect the integrity of homes as well as their ability to withstand pounding rains, hail and the impacts of trees, branches and other materials flying through the air during severe weather.

The next organization, like IBHS, provides a wealth of information to protect you and your family from both natural and man-made disasters.

The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes is dedicated to promoting disaster safety and property loss mitigation. Its programs promote life safety, property protection and economic well-being by strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and man made disasters.

Finally, here's a group that provides ways to protect your vehicles from theft, and it can help you avoid buying a used vehicle that turns out to be stolen. You can also view an annual list of the most popular stolen vehicles by state and metro area.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau is dedicated exclusively to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through information analysis, investigations, training and public awareness.

David Colmans is the executive director of the Georgia Insurance Information Service. Contact him at (770) 565-3806 or dcolmans@giis.org.