Compensation payouts are not set, but vary from cases to case. There are no minimum or maximum personal injury amounts set by law, but claims are instead decided on a case-by-case basis, according to the facts of the incident and previous precedents for similar cases. There are many different factors which affect personal injury amounts. Some of these include the age of the client, how severe the injuries were which were sustained, the extent of medical costs which have been accumulated, the likely medical and financial consequences of the injury in the long-term and the extent of liability of the victim and the negligent party. The main question when weighing up these factors is how much compensation is needed to cover the costs accumulated so far and how much extra financial support will be necessary in the future to cope with the injuries sustained. This includes medical costs and loss-of-earnings as well as compensation. This means that the highest personal injury amounts are given to young, previously fit adults, who sustain highly debilitating injuries, as they are likely to require the highest amount of financial assistance for the duration of their life.