New York City paid out $567.9 million for personal injury, property damage and other law suits last year, a slight increase over the $558.3 million given out the year before, Comptroller William Thompson said yesterday.

NYPD settlements for false arrest, excessive force or assault — $35.2 million — were up 40 percent from 2007, the report found. New claims against the NYPD reached a historic high with last year’s 6,274. Claims against the city’s public hospitals dropped 17 percent in the same period, but medical malpractice still bleeds more money from the city’s coffers.

The 9,981 property damage claims filed last year were the most in a decade and mostly the result of sewer back ups and tree-damage from storms.

The Health and Hospitals Corporation, the Police Department and the Department of Transportation — account for about 61 percent of settlements in fiscal year 2008.

Source: Metro NY