If you're sharing a house or flat, you'll need to take out shared contents insurance. The downside is that shared contents insurance isn't as easy to get as ordinary contents insurance! Because you're sharing a property with potential strangers, insurance companies see it as higher risk - your possessions are more likely to come to harm thanks to your new flatmate and their friends than if you were sharing a house with your girlfriend/boyfriend. In fact, some insurers even specify that theft is excluded from the policy unless there is proof of forced entry.
