Can't reach California Paid Family Leave? Claimyr connects you to a live EDD agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the EDD
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the EDD drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
I had the exact same issue a few months back! The wrong employment date messed up my whole claim timeline. What finally worked for me was faxing a correction request along with my final paystub and a signed letter from HR confirming my actual last day. It took about 2 weeks to process, but way faster than trying to get through on the phone. The fax number should be on your claim paperwork - if you can't find it, it's usually listed on the EDD website under PFL contact info. Just make sure to include your claim number on every page!
Join the conversation
Quick clarification that might save others some confusion: in California, there are two separate programs: 1. State Disability Insurance (SDI) - this covers your pregnancy disability before birth (if needed) and your recovery period after birth (typically 6 weeks for vaginal delivery or 8 weeks for c-section). This requires doctor certification. 2. Paid Family Leave (PFL) - this covers baby bonding time and gives you up to 8 weeks of paid leave. No doctor certification needed, just proof of relationship to the child. The transition between these two programs is where most people get confused. They are separate claims but both managed through the same EDD system and SDI Online account.
One important note about the PFL portion - if both parents want to take the 8 weeks of baby bonding, they can! My husband and I both got our full 8 weeks each. Just wanted to make sure people know it's not a shared pool of time.
As someone who just went through this transition last month, I can confirm you absolutely DO NOT need new doctor paperwork for PFL baby bonding! The medical certification is only required for the SDI disability portion (your recovery period). Here's what you'll need to do: 1. File a new PFL claim using form DE2508 through your existing SDI Online account 2. You'll need your baby's birth certificate information (not the actual certificate, just the details) 3. Set your PFL start date for the day AFTER your disability ends 4. File about 1-2 weeks before your disability period ends to avoid payment gaps The whole process took me maybe 15 minutes online. No doctor visits, no medical forms, no hassle! Just make sure you don't overlap the dates between your disability and PFL claims. Congratulations on your new baby! 🎉
Join the conversation
Friendly reminder to everyone: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Keep copies of all forms, note down every call (date, time, who you spoke to), and save all emails. It'll save your butt if theres ever a dispute.
THIS. Cannot stress this enough. EDD 'lost' my forms twice. Thank god I had copies.
If the care recipient has a legal guardian or power of attorney, they might be able to sign on their behalf. You'll need to include documentation proving the legal relationship (like court papers or POA documents) along with your claim. I had to do this for my elderly parent and it worked, though it did add a few extra weeks to the processing time. Make sure to include a cover letter explaining the situation too!
This is really helpful! I didn't know about the POA option. Do you happen to know if a medical power of attorney would work, or does it need to be a general POA? My situation involves caring for someone with dementia and we only have medical POA set up right now.
Join the conversation
I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My partner has been trying to file for PFL for the past week and keeps getting the verification error. It's so reassuring to see we're not the only ones experiencing this nightmare. Reading through everyone's experiences, I'm definitely going to try the new ID.me account approach first thing tomorrow morning. The fact that multiple people have had success with this gives me hope. I had no idea the January system update was causing so many problems - EDD really should have communicated this better to users. One question for those who successfully got through - after creating the new ID.me account, did you have to wait any specific amount of time before calling EDD to link the accounts, or were you able to call immediately? We're also cutting it close with timing, so every day counts at this point. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and solutions. This thread is incredibly helpful for those of us navigating this frustrating system!
I can help answer that timing question! When we created the new ID.me account, we were able to call EDD the same day. We actually did it all in one morning - my husband set up the fresh ID.me account around 7:30am using his work email, then we used Claimyr to get through to EDD around 9am. The representative was able to link everything immediately during that same call. The key thing is just making sure the new ID.me account is fully verified before you call. That process took about 10-15 minutes for us (they had him upload a photo of his driver's license and take a selfie). Once that was done, the EDD rep could see the new account in their system right away. Don't wait - every day really does count with these applications. Good luck getting through! The combination of new ID.me account plus using a callback service to reach EDD seems to be the winning formula based on everyone's experiences here.
This thread has been a lifesaver! I'm going through the exact same verification nightmare right now with my EDD PFL application. My baby is due in 2 weeks and I've been stuck on this error for 5 days straight. Based on everyone's advice here, I'm going to try creating a new ID.me account tomorrow morning and then use one of those callback services to reach EDD. It's frustrating that we have to jump through all these hoops, but at least now I have a clear plan of action instead of just repeatedly hitting refresh and hoping the error goes away. Quick question - for those who successfully got through, did the EDD rep mention anything about how long this verification issue is expected to last? I'm wondering if other expecting parents should be warned about starting their applications even earlier than the usual 2-3 week recommendation. Thanks again to everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions. This community is amazing!
I'm so glad this thread is helping you too! I just went through this same ordeal last month and know how stressful it is when you're so close to your due date. From what the EDD rep told me when I finally got through, they said the verification issues are ongoing and they don't have a firm timeline for when they'll be fully resolved. She mentioned they're working with ID.me to fix the integration problems, but it could be "several more weeks" - which obviously isn't helpful when you need benefits to start soon! Based on my experience and everyone else's here, I'd definitely recommend other expecting parents start their PFL applications at least 4-5 weeks early now instead of the usual 2-3 weeks. Better to have everything ready and waiting than to be scrambling with technical issues while you're in the final weeks of pregnancy. The new ID.me account plus callback service approach really does work though - just make sure to have all your documents ready before you call since they might ask you to verify information during that same conversation. Wishing you the best of luck getting it sorted out quickly!
Nora Bennett
This thread is incredibly helpful! I'm currently on maternity leave through SDI and planning to transition to PFL for bonding time in a few weeks. Reading about the certification requirements has been eye-opening - I had no idea PFL worked differently than regular disability payments. I'm definitely going to set up those calendar reminders that Aisha mentioned. It's frustrating that EDD doesn't make this clearer, but at least now I know what to expect. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's going to save me (and probably my husband when he takes his PFL later) from the same payment delays and stress you all went through!
0 coins
Grant Vikers
•Welcome to the PFL journey! You're so smart to research this ahead of time. I wish I had known about the certification differences before my husband started his leave. One thing I'd also suggest is taking screenshots of your online account once you submit each certification - it helps you keep track of what you've done and when, especially if there are any disputes later. The transition from SDI to PFL can be a bit confusing administratively, but knowing about the biweekly certifications puts you way ahead of where we were! Good luck with your bonding time when it starts.
0 coins
Stephanie
•@Grant Vikers hi hopefully I can get a response. I’m in the same boat. I switched to family paid bonding and only received 2 days worth of pay when I submitted my application. It’s been 14 days today and there’s nothing in my account. My claim is active and the only forms I have are reestablishing bonding and claimant change. I see there is a certification process mentioned. Which form would that be?
0 coins
Yara Sayegh
I'm going through a very similar situation right now! My wife just started her baby bonding PFL two weeks ago and we're already confused about the certification process. After reading this thread, I immediately went to check her SDI Online account and sure enough, there's a certification form that's been sitting there for 3 days that we had no idea about. It's absolutely ridiculous that EDD doesn't send any kind of email notification or text alert when these certifications are due. How are people supposed to know? We got so used to the automatic payments during her pregnancy disability that we just assumed PFL would work the same way. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - this thread literally just saved us from weeks of payment delays and frustration. Going to set up those biweekly calendar reminders right now!
0 coins
Stephanie
•@Yara Sayegh what does the certification form look like?
0 coins