The British public are more likely to ask Google or family and friends about care home fees than seek professional advice, despite 70 percent admitting they do not know the average annual cost of a care home.

Later life specilaists at law firm Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth are stressing the importance of checking care home contracts after its own research found 46 percent of 2,100 respondents would ask friends and family about advice on care home fees, when 70 percent of the same respondents admitted not knowing the average annual cost of a care home.

The second most popular response was asking a search engine at 33 per...