I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Missed my work search meeting because of a doctor's appointment I couldn't reschedule, and now I've been stuck in review for almost 3 weeks. The anxiety is killing me because I'm behind on my car payment already. I've been following all the advice here - claiming every week, documenting everything, trying to call at 8am. Still no luck getting through on the phone though. The wait times are absolutely insane! One question for those who've been through this - did you guys get any kind of notification when your review was finally completed? Or did the payments just randomly show up in your account? I keep checking obsessively but nothing yet. Thanks for sharing all your experiences, it really helps knowing other people have made it through this nightmare! 🤞

Just want to add another perspective here - I went through this exact situation about 4 months ago and it was absolutely nerve-wracking! Missed my work search meeting due to a COVID exposure and had to quarantine. The one thing that really helped me was creating a detailed timeline document with dates, times, and screenshots of everything I submitted. When I finally got through to someone (took the claimyr service route too), having all that organized info made the call go much smoother. Also, don't panic if you see your claim status change to "pending" or other confusing statuses during the review - that's normal. Mine bounced between like 3 different statuses before finally clearing. The system is definitely broken but you WILL get your money eventually. Keep your head up and keep claiming those weeks! The backpay hitting your account all at once is actually kind of nice when it finally happens 😅

I just went through this exact situation 4 months ago! Got terminated in a "restructuring" (which we all know is often just an excuse) and received a settlement with severance and NDA. The settlement absolutely does NOT disqualify you from unemployment benefits - I was worried about the same thing. What matters is that your termination was involuntary, which it clearly was. When I filed my claim, I reported everything honestly - the settlement amount, dates, and circumstances of termination. NYS DOL reviewed it and approved me without any issues. The key is being transparent from day one. Don't wait to file - there's already a waiting period built in, so get the process started now. My benefits started about 3 weeks after filing, and the settlement actually helped because it provided clear documentation that the termination was the company's decision, not mine. You've got this!

I'm in a very similar boat - just got terminated last week in what they called "organizational restructuring" and I'm about to receive a settlement package. This whole thread has been incredibly helpful! It's reassuring to see so many people confirm that settlements don't disqualify you from unemployment benefits as long as the termination was involuntary. Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like the key is being completely transparent with NYS DOL from the start and filing your claim as soon as possible. I'm planning to file mine this week. One question though - for those who went through this process, did you find it helpful to keep copies of any internal company communications about the restructuring/layoffs to support your case, or was the settlement agreement documentation sufficient on its own?

Check if maybe you had a short period of unemployment you forgot about? Sometimes people get confused about what year they received benefits or if they got other types of assistance that show up on 1099-G forms.

Update: I called the fraud hotline and they confirmed someone used my SSN to file a claim. The benefits were direct deposited to an account that's definitely not mine. They're opening an investigation and said I should get a corrected 1099-G in 6-8 weeks. Thanks everyone for the help - I was really panicking about this.

I work at a local community center and see people dealing with this all the time! From what I've observed helping folks navigate the system, late questionnaire submissions are super common and they definitely don't automatically deny for it. The DOL knows people have busy lives and things happen. What usually matters more is that you submitted it and can explain why it was late if they ask. I've seen people submit questionnaires weeks late and still get approved - it just takes a bit longer for them to process. The key is staying responsive to any follow-up requests they might have. You did the right thing by submitting it as soon as you remembered. Try not to stress too much about it!

I'm going through the exact same anxiety right now! Submitted mine about a week late and have been checking my account obsessively. Reading all these responses is making me feel so much better though - seems like this happens to way more people than I thought and the DOL is generally understanding about it. Going to try calling them tomorrow to give them a heads up about the late submission. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, this thread is a lifesaver for those of us stressing about this! 🙏

Rita, I totally feel your pain on this! I had a similar security question nightmare with the NY unemployment system a few months back. One thing that might help - have you tried accessing the site during off-peak hours like really early morning (6-7am) or late evening? Sometimes the system behaves differently when there's less traffic. Also, if you have any family members who might remember exactly how your mom's name appeared on old documents or forms, that could give you clues about variations you haven't tried yet. The NY system is notorious for storing info exactly as it was entered originally, even if there were typos. I know it's super stressful with your benefits timeline, but based on all the success stories in this thread, it sounds like there's definitely a solution out there - you just need to find the right combination. Sending you good vibes that you crack the code soon! 🤞

Rita, I just went through this exact same nightmare two weeks ago and I completely understand your frustration! 😤 After trying every variation I could think of for days, what finally worked for me was remembering that when I originally set up my account back in 2020, I was using my phone and the auto-correct changed my mother's maiden name from "Kowalski" to "Kowalsky" without me noticing. Try thinking about any possible autocorrect mistakes - especially if you set up your account on mobile during the pandemic chaos when we were all rushing to file. Also, the system might be case-sensitive in weird ways, so try your mom's name in ALL CAPS, all lowercase, and proper capitalization. I know how stressful this is with your benefits running out, but based on all these success stories, there's definitely a solution! If nothing else works, that claimyr service people mentioned actually did get me through to an agent who fixed everything in under 10 minutes. Don't give up - you're going to figure this out! 💪