Your family could be spending €12,000 extra on health insurance, if you don't shop around.

That's the message in a study from totalhealthcover.ie - who report that one in every two Irish families are paying too much.

On average the report states that Irish households are paying 19% more than they should be. This equates to over €700, with some overpaying by as much as €1,200 on like-for-like family plans.

The company says factors like complacency and fear are some of the reasons why people aren't making more savings.

Dermot Goode, the website's founder explained, "Health insurance rates are on the increase again and more price hikes are likely. We ran some figures to give people an indication of the huge price variation that exists across the industry for plans with similar or equivalent cover – often with the same insurers.

"Older members are paying even higher premiums because they tend to be insured on the most dated plans. Recent HIA research indicated that over 60’s are over-paying by approx. 30%; but our findings show that in some cases, they are paying double what they should be and their savings could be anything from €500 to €1,000 per adult depending on the plan held," he continued.

Over 2.1 million people across the country have health insurance.