Why did my unemployment stop - NYS Department of Labor claim suddenly ended
My unemployment benefits just stopped out of nowhere and I have no idea why. I was getting my weekly payments fine for about 6 weeks, then last week nothing came through. When I check my account on the NYS Department of Labor website it just says my claim is under review but doesn't give any explanation. I've been certifying every week like I'm supposed to and reporting my job search activities. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm really worried because I need these benefits to pay rent.
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Yara Khoury
There are several reasons why NYS Department of Labor benefits can suddenly stop. Most common ones are: failed to meet work search requirements, earned too much in wages that week, didn't certify properly, or they're reviewing something on your claim. Check if you have any pending issues in your online account under the 'Issues' tab.
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AstroAlpha
•I checked and there's nothing showing under issues. I've been doing my 3 job searches every week and logging them properly. This is so frustrating!
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Keisha Taylor
same thing happened to me last month!! turned out they wanted to verify my identity even though I'd been getting benefits for weeks already. took like 10 days to sort out
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AstroAlpha
•How did you find out that's what it was? Did they send you something in the mail or just show up online?
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Keisha Taylor
•it showed up in my correspondence inbox on the website but took a few days to appear there
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Paolo Longo
You need to call them ASAP. I know the phone lines are terrible but that's really the only way to get answers when benefits stop unexpectedly. When I had this issue, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual NYS Department of Labor agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself.
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Amina Bah
•How much does that cost? I'm already broke from my benefits stopping.
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Paolo Longo
•It's worth checking out their site for the details, but honestly it was so much better than spending entire days trying to get through myself. The agent was able to tell me exactly why my claim was held up.
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Oliver Becker
THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN! They do this to people all the time - cut off benefits with no warning and then make YOU figure out what went wrong. It's designed to discourage people from collecting what they're entitled to. Keep fighting!
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AstroAlpha
•I'm definitely not giving up but it's scary when you don't know how long it will take to fix
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CosmicCowboy
Check your correspondence in your online account every day. Sometimes they send requests for information or forms to fill out and if you miss the deadline they stop your benefits. Also make sure you didn't accidentally answer one of the weekly certification questions wrong.
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AstroAlpha
•Good point about the certification questions. I'll go back and double check my last few submissions to see if I made a mistake somewhere.
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Dmitry Ivanov
I went through something similar a few months ago. My benefits stopped after 8 weeks with no explanation, just the "under review" status. Turned out they flagged my claim because I had reported some freelance work income a few weeks earlier and they needed to verify it wasn't affecting my eligibility. Even though I reported it correctly, their system automatically triggered a review. It took about 2 weeks to resolve once I got through to speak with someone. Don't panic - in most cases these reviews get resolved and you'll get back pay for the weeks you missed. Keep checking your correspondence inbox daily and try calling early in the morning (right when they open) for better chances of getting through.
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