EDD confusion about 26 weeks maximum benefit - need help before week 13!

There is NO special action needed at week 13 to get your full 26 weeks of regular UI benefits. As long as you continue to certify every two weeks and remain eligible, you'll automatically receive benefits up to your maximum benefit amount or until you hit 26 weeks, whichever comes first. The "applying before week 13" thing might be outdated info from pandemic extensions (PEUC, PUA) which no longer exist. What matters is: 1. Your claim balance - if this runs out before 26 weeks, your benefits stop 2. Continuing to certify on time 3. Remaining eligible (work search, reporting income, etc.) Best way to check your status is to log into UI Online and check both the "Claim Summary" and "Payment Activity" sections. This will show your remaining balance and weeks paid.

my roomate had same issue last month. dont wory about week 13 thing its not real. you just keep doing the certify thing every 2 weeks and youll be fine until week 26 or your $ runs out. the system is dumb but atleast its straight forward lol

I think you're mixing up regular UI benefits with extension programs that existed during COVID. Currently in 2025, California provides a MAXIMUM of 26 weeks of regular UI benefits. The key factors are: - Your CLAIM BALANCE is the total amount of money you can receive - Your WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT is what you get each week - If your claim balance divided by your weekly benefit amount equals less than 26, you'll run out of benefits before hitting 26 weeks - If your claim balance is sufficient, you'll get the full 26 weeks Example: If your weekly benefit is $450 and your total claim balance is $10,000, you'd get approximately 22 weeks of benefits (10,000 ÷ 450 = 22.2). There are NO EXTENSIONS currently available once you exhaust regular UI benefits.

THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE YOU!!! I wouldn't believe what anyone tells you about week 13 or extensions or whatever. EDD purposely makes everything complicated so people give up on their benefits. When I was on unemployment, I could NEVER get through on the phone to get a straight answer. The website is useless too. Just keep certifying and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING in case they try to say you owe money later.

Have either of you received notification about an eligibility interview? Sometimes around the 10-12 week mark, EDD does random eligibility interviews to verify your continued eligibility. If you miss this interview, benefits can stop. Check your UI Online inbox and mail for any notices. Also, I'd recommend calling EDD directly to verify your specific claim status. I know it's nearly impossible to get through, but I finally reached someone using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They connected me to an EDD agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km Worth it for peace of mind to hear directly from EDD about your specific situation.

I went through this last year. The 13-week thing is probably confusion about the work search requirements that got updated after COVID. You need to do work search activities EVERY WEEK (not just by week 13) to keep getting benefits. Make sure you're both: - Applying to jobs each week (at least 3) - Saving evidence of applications (screenshots, confirmation emails) - Saying YES to looking for work on your bi-weekly certification Also, don't forget that your husband will need to start looking for work outside his field after 13 weeks if he hasn't found anything. EDD expects you to expand your job search if you're unemployed that long.

I think what you might be referring to is the old Fed-Ed extension which required filing before a certain week to qualify. That program ended years ago. Currently for 2025, there are NO extensions beyond the regular 26 weeks of UI. The most important thing to watch is your BENEFIT YEAR END date. This is 12 months from when you first filed. Your claim remains active until this date as long as you have a balance and continue to certify. If you exhaust your benefits before 26 weeks, that means your claim balance wasn't enough to provide 26 full weeks at your weekly benefit amount. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to increase this amount once your claim is established. Don't panic! Just focus on work search and keep certifying.

Hey Aria! I just went through this exact same worry a few months ago when I was around week 12. I found some old forum posts from 2020-2021 talking about extensions and got totally freaked out thinking I'd miss some deadline. Turns out everyone here is right - there's NO action needed at week 13 for regular unemployment benefits. The confusion comes from the pandemic-era programs (PEUC, PUA, Fed-Ed) that had specific timing requirements, but those are all gone now. The current system is much simpler: you get up to 26 weeks OR until your claim balance runs out, whichever comes first. Just keep certifying every two weeks and doing your work search activities. One thing that helped my anxiety was logging into UI Online and taking a screenshot of my "Claim Summary" page showing my remaining balance and benefit year end date. Having that info written down made me feel more in control of the situation. You and your husband are doing everything right - don't let the stress of job searching be made worse by worrying about non-existent deadlines!