Confused about starting new PA UC claim after benefit year end on 12/28 - when's best to file?

You should open your new claim immediately after your benefit year ends. There's no advantage to waiting. If you file now, you won't need to backdate anything. PA UC lets you file a new claim up to 2 weeks before your benefit year officially ends, but since yours already ended on 12/28, you should file your new claim ASAP. Filing on Friday vs Sunday doesn't really matter, but getting it done sooner means your claim gets processed sooner.

omg i just went thru this!! dont wait til sunday, do it NOW!! i waited an extra week thinking it needed to be on a sunday and messed everything up for myself. took 3 weeks to fix.

I WAITED TOO LONG LAST YEAR AND IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!!! The system wouldn't backdate properly and I spent 6 WEEKS trying to get someone on the phone!!! File TODAY, don't even wait till tomorrow. The benefit year stuff is SO CONFUSING and the website doesn't explain it clearly AT ALL. Good luck!!!

My husband filed a day late last year and nothing bad happened. I think everyone's overreacting a bit here. The system is designed to handle these transitions.

I remember being confused about this too! I called and asked an agent last time and she told me "apply as soon as possible after your benefit year ends." So Thursday (today) would be better than Friday, and Friday better than Sunday. BUT make sure when you file that you're not accidentally filing a weekly claim for your old benefit year instead of starting a new application. The options look similar on the dashboard and I clicked the wrong one at first.

One other important thing to remember - when you file your new claim, you'll need to restart your work search activities right away for the new benefit year. Make sure you're completing your 6 work search activities per week starting with the new claim. The system doesn't always make this clear, but your work search requirements restart with the new benefit year.

To clarify some confusion in this thread: PA unemployment allows you to file a new application up to two weeks before your benefit year ends OR any time after it ends. Since your benefit year ended 12/28, you should file immediately. There's no advantage to waiting until Sunday - that's only relevant for weekly certifications, not new applications. File today, and you'll be able to file your first weekly certification for the new benefit year this Sunday. This prevents any gap in benefits between your old claim and new claim.

Great to hear you got your new application submitted! Just went through this myself a few months ago and had the same confusion. One tip - keep an eye on your claim status over the next few days. Sometimes new applications get flagged for review which can delay processing, especially if there were any changes in your employment situation since your last claim. If you don't see movement within 3-4 business days, definitely call or use one of those callback services someone mentioned earlier. The wait times are brutal but it's better to catch any issues early rather than waiting weeks for benefits to start!

Just wanted to add another perspective here - I've been through this benefit year transition multiple times and the key thing is don't overthink it! You did the right thing by filing your new claim right away. For anyone else reading this thread who might be in a similar situation, here's what typically happens: you file your new claim immediately after your benefit year ends, wait for approval (usually 2-3 business days if everything's straightforward), then start your weekly certifications on Sunday. The system is actually pretty good at handling the transition as long as you don't wait too long. The horror stories usually come from people who wait weeks to file their new claim, not from filing a day or two after their benefit year ends. Good luck with your new claim!

Just wanted to share my recent experience since I see you already filed your new claim - that's awesome! I went through this exact same situation back in November when my benefit year ended. The one thing I wish someone had told me is to screenshot or save confirmation numbers from every step of the process. When I filed my new claim, I saved the confirmation number, and when my first weekly certification went through, I saved that too. It ended up being super helpful when I had a minor glitch a few weeks later and needed to reference those numbers when talking to an agent. Also, don't panic if your payment amount looks different on your new claim - mine actually went up slightly because they recalculated based on more recent wage data. Sounds like you're on the right track though!

Just wanted to chime in here since I see you already got your new claim filed - congrats on getting it done today! I went through this same stressful situation last year and made the mistake of waiting almost a week because I kept second-guessing myself about the timing. Big mistake! Like others mentioned, I ended up losing benefits for that week and it took forever to get through to someone to help sort it out. The PA UC system can be really confusing with all these different deadlines and processes. One thing that helped me feel more confident this year was bookmarking the official PA UC page that explains benefit year transitions - it's buried pretty deep in their website but has the most accurate info. Also, for what it's worth, I've found that filing earlier in the week (like you did today) tends to get processed faster than filing on weekends when there's probably more volume. Hope your new claim goes through smoothly!

This whole thread has been so helpful! I'm actually in a similar boat - my benefit year ended on 12/21 and I've been procrastinating on filing my new claim because I wasn't sure about the timing. Reading everyone's experiences here finally convinced me to stop overthinking it and just get it done. Just filed my new application about an hour ago after reading through all these responses. It's crazy how the PA UC website doesn't make this process clearer - you'd think something this common would have better guidance. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially the warnings about waiting too long. Hopefully my new claim processes as smoothly as yours did!