DEO claim stuck for 9 weeks with no updates - can't reach anyone for help
I'm at my breaking point with the Florida DEO. Been waiting 9 weeks since filing my claim and it's still showing 'pending' with zero updates. Lost my retail manager position when our store closed permanently in February. I've called literally 70+ times every day for the past two weeks and either get disconnected or the automated message saying they're too busy. My savings are completely gone now. Rent is due in 3 days and I have no idea what to tell my landlord. My car payment is already 30 days late. I've applied to 30+ jobs but the market here in Panama City is absolutely dead right now. Food pantry helped once but said they can only assist quarterly. How are people supposed to survive when the system is this broken? Anyone actually managed to get through to a real person at DEO? At this point I'd honestly sleep in my car just to pay for a callback service if one existed.
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Felicity Bud
This is unfortunately NORMAL with Florida DEO now. My claim was stuck for 11 weeks before I finally got it resolved. The trick is you need to contact your state representative ASAP. Google "find my Florida state representative" and contact both your House rep and state Senator. They have staff dedicated to helping with DEO issues. When I did this, I got a call back from DEO within 3 days. For immediate help getting through on the phone, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they got me connected to an actual DEO agent after I'd been trying for weeks. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj. It was the only thing that worked after hundreds of failed calls.
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Felix Grigori
•Thank you so much! I didn't even know contacting state reps was an option. I'll look mine up right now. Has anyone here used that Claimyr service before? I'm desperate enough to try anything at this point but worried about getting scammed when I'm already broke.
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Max Reyes
the entire deo system is designed 2 make u give up!!! been thru it 3 times now and its ALWAYS the same garbage. they hope u'll just go away so they dont have 2 pay u what ur legally owed. my last claim took 14 WEEKS before i got paid!!! and that was only after i filed a complaint with the governors office AND my state rep. dont give up!!!
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Mikayla Davison
•While I understand your frustration, I don't think the system is deliberately designed to make people give up. The DEO is severely understaffed and their computer systems are outdated. When I worked with them last year, I found that being persistent but polite got the best results. OP should definitely contact their state rep, but also make sure they've completed their ID.me verification and check if there are any fact-finding questions in their CONNECT inbox they might have missed. Those are the two things that cause most claims to get stuck in my experience.
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Adrian Connor
Have you checked if your claim is in adjudication? Log into CONNECT and look under "Determination, Pending Issues and Decision Summary" - if there's anything listed there, that's what's holding up your claim. Could be employment verification, income verification, or separation reason verification. If you see "Adjudication" status, it means they're investigating something specific about your claim. As for immediate help - call 211 for United Way resources in your area. They can often provide emergency rent assistance and utility payment help while you're waiting. Also check with local churches - many have benevolence funds specifically for situations like yours. And I know it's frustrating, but keep claiming your weeks even though you're not getting paid yet. If your claim is eventually approved, you'll get backpay for all properly claimed weeks.
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Felix Grigori
•Just checked and yes - it says "Adjudication" under status! There's something about "separation verification" but I uploaded the termination letter when I first applied. Should I upload it again? And thank you for the 211 tip, I'm calling them right now.
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Aisha Jackson
sounds like my situation from last yr...so frustrating! btw has anyone watched the new batman movie? i thought it was pretty good but way too long lol
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Ryder Everingham
•Let's try to stay on topic please. OP is going through a serious financial crisis.
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Lilly Curtis
I know EXACTLY how you feel! I was in tears daily when my claim was stuck for 12 weeks last year!!! It's so dehumanizing when you can't even get basic answers about YOUR OWN MONEY! The thing that finally worked for me was emailing my claim info to my state rep AND showing up in person to the local CareerSource office. The CareerSource people can't directly fix DEO issues but they have special contacts there. Also make sure you're completing your 5 weekly work searches while waiting - they WILL check those when they finally process your claim.
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Felix Grigori
•Thank you for understanding... I literally cried yesterday after getting hung up on for the 10th time. I'll try CareerSource tomorrow. And yes, I've been documenting all my job searches in excruciating detail just in case they try to use that as an excuse later. This whole system feels designed to break people.
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Leo Simmons
I used Claimyr last month when my claim was stuck and got through to DEO in about 45 minutes after trying for weeks on my own. Whatever adjudication issue you have needs a real person to look at your claim. Worth every penny imo. The lady who answered was super helpful and fixed my issue while I was on the phone. Before that I was constantly getting busy signals or disconnected.
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Felix Grigori
•Thanks for sharing your experience! Did you have to provide any sensitive information to use their service? I'm desperate but also cautious about security.
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Leo Simmons
•They don't ask for any sensitive DEO account info or passwords. They just need your phone number to call you back when they get a DEO agent on the line. It's basically a way to bypass the busy signals. You still talk directly to DEO yourself.
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Ryder Everingham
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but adjudication often takes 8-12 weeks these days. Make sure you've done your ID.me verification - that's a common holdup. Also check your CONNECT inbox daily for fact-finding questionnaires. They sometimes send these without notification and if you miss the deadline, it resets the whole process. For immediate financial help, try applying for emergency SNAP benefits - they can expedite approval in hardship cases. Also, most utility companies have emergency assistance programs if you call them directly. Keep attempting to call DEO between 7:30-8:00am when they first open - that's when your chances are best.
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Felix Grigori
•I did the ID.me verification the day I applied and check my CONNECT inbox multiple times daily. There's nothing in there asking for more information. I'll try the early morning call tip tomorrow - haven't tried that yet. Already applied for emergency SNAP but was told it would take 7-10 days for approval.
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Felicity Bud
Good news: just saw you found out it's in adjudication for separation verification. That's actually fixable! Call the employer verification department directly at 877-846-8770 instead of the main DEO line. They're typically less busy. Tell them you need to verify if your former employer has responded to the separation verification request. Sometimes employers don't respond, which causes delays. If it's been over 10 days since they contacted your employer, ask for them to escalate it for non-response.
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Felix Grigori
•THANK YOU! I had no idea there was a separate number for this. Will try calling them first thing tomorrow morning. This is the first helpful concrete advice I've gotten in weeks!
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