People with health insurance have been warned to be wary of “average” price rises announced by providers.

Consumers renewing their cover have been shocked to discover the actual rises in the cost of their health insurance could be double what they were told the increase would be, broker Dermot Goode said.

VHI, Laya and Irish Life Health have announced increases of between 4.4pc and 5pc since the start of the year.

But the increases on some of the most popular plans of the three providers could be much higher than the average figures, according to an analysis by Dermot Goode from Total Health Cover, which is part of the Lockton Insurance Group.

“We’ve been contacted by hundreds of members who were shocked to find that the increase on their plan was close to double the 5pc average increase they were expecting, and many of these members have no option but to shop around to keep their cost affordable,” Mr Goode said.

Laya Healthcare last month said the cost of premiums would be going up by 4.4pc from the start of April for its 675,000 customers.

But Mr Goode said the popular Laya Simply Connect Plus corporate plan would go from €1,471 per adult to €1,621. This is an increase of 10pc.

“While this is still excellent cover, a retired couple on this plan will have to find an additional €300 to maintain the same cover,” he said.

The Laya Simplicity scheme will go up by 8.5pc to €1,666 per adult since last Saturday.

VHI announced a 4.8pc average rise in the cost of its plans from the start of March.

However, its Health Plus Extra (the old Plan B Options) will increase in cost from €2,740 to €2,951.

A couple on this plan would have to pay an additional €422 a year to remain on it, or 7.7pc more, Mr Goode said.

And popular corporate plan VHI Company Plan Extra Level 1 now costs €1,890, compared with the previous cost of €1,760, an increase of 7.4pc.

Irish Life Health said it increased premiums by 4.5pc from the start of the year.

Mr Goode said its 4D Health 2 plan increased from €1,351 to €1,480, a rise of 9.5pc.

And the 4D Health 4 private room scheme increased from €1,637 to €1,781 per adult, an increase of 8.8pc.

Mr Goode said health insurers had no option but to publish average increase figures when announcing rate hikes.

He said this meant some consumers may pay less than the average figure, but many would pay far more.

“Therefore, it’s essential that all consumers check the exact financial impact on their cover before renewing and don’t rely on these average figures,” he said.

He added the good news was that there were new plans coming on stream all the time, meaning there were options to suit all requirements and budgets.

“Never auto-renew and accept these increases without checking out the alternatives first,” he said.

Insurers have blamed medical inflation for the rises.

They said this was being compounded by a significant acceleration in the cost of delivering healthcare, notably energy and staffing costs, and pent-up demand for healthcare following Covid-related delays.