PA UC benefit year ending today (12/2) - New claim or reopen with sufficient qualifying wages?

You need to file a completely new claim since your benefit year is ending. Your BYE date (Benefit Year End) means your claim is completely over, and any remaining balance disappears regardless. Since you worked and earned enough to qualify again, you'll need a brand new application. You should wait until AFTER your benefit year officially ends, so do it tomorrow. If you try today, the system might get confused because your current claim is technically still active until midnight.

im prety sure u can do it today actually. i did mine on the last day of my bye and it worked fine

You'll need to file a completely new application (not reopen) after your BYE date. The PA UC system requires a full new application when establishing a new benefit year. Since you worked and earned qualifying wages, you should be eligible, but remember a few important things: 1. Your weekly benefit amount might change based on your new base period wages 2. You'll need to provide employment information for all employers since your last claim 3. There might be a 1-week waiting period for your first payment 4. You'll need to complete the identity verification again in most cases I recommend filing first thing tomorrow morning to avoid any processing delays. The new application takes about 30-40 minutes to complete.

For your base period calculation, PA UC looks at the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file. So if you file tomorrow (in December 2025), they'll look at July-September 2024 through April-June 2025 as your base period. The most recent completed quarter (July-Sept 2025) isn't counted. They use your highest quarter earnings within that period to determine your weekly benefit amount. If your employment was spotty, it might affect your WBA.

I just went thru this same thing last month lol. My BYE was 11/15 and I filed new claim on 11/16. Everything was fine but took about 10 days to process the new claim. Make sure you have all your employment info ready like start/end dates and wages if possible. They'll verify everything with employers but having it ready speeds things up.

I went through this exact scenario in October. Filed a new claim the day after my BYE and it took FOREVER to process. I couldn't get through to anyone at UC to check my status. I kept getting busy signals for two weeks straight. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent. They connected me directly to PA UC and I found out my claim had an "open issue" that needed verification. Got it resolved in that one call. They have a video of how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 Just a heads up that even if you do everything right with filing after your BYE, you might still need to follow up if it doesn't process within a week or so.

DONT EVEN BOTHER WITH THE WEBSITE FILE BY PHONE!!!!! I wasted two whole days trying to file online after my BYE and the system kept giving me error messages. Called and got it done in 30 minutes!!! The website is GARBAGE especially for new applications!!!!!

Just to clarify on the base period calculation that someone mentioned above - PA UC uses the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before your application filing date. The quarters are: Q1: January-March Q2: April-June Q3: July-September Q4: October-December So if you file tomorrow (early December 2025), they'll look at Q3 2024 through Q2 2025 for your base period. Your total wages in that period must be at least 37% of your highest quarter wages, and you need at least $116 per week on average across at least 18 weeks in the base year to qualify. Just make sure you file weekly claims while your new application is processing. You can't miss weeks waiting for approval.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now!!! My BYE is on 12/5 and I'm so stressed about making a mistake. Has anyone had a gap between their last payment from the old claim and first payment from the new claim? I'm worried about how I'll pay rent if there's a long processing time...

Just to follow up on your original question - you mentioned you were collecting "until benefits exhausted" - just to clarify, did you use up all your benefit amount before reaching your BYE date? Or do you mean you were collecting right up until now when your BYE is happening? The reason I ask is because if you exhausted your benefits weeks/months ago and haven't been filing weekly claims since then, you'll want to make sure you're eligible for a new benefit year beyond just having enough wages. There are some requirements about continued filing that could affect your new claim.

That's normal. Once you exhaust benefits, you can't file weekly claims even if your benefit year is still active. Since you're filing a new application after your BYE, that gap won't affect your eligibility as long as you have sufficient qualifying wages in your base period. When you file tomorrow, the system will ask if you've worked since your last UC application. Make sure to include ALL employment since your original claim in December 2022, with accurate start/end dates and employer information. Any missing employment information can delay your claim processing.