I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now! TWC flagged me for a $4,200 overpayment from early 2023 because I missed their ID verification request. Like you, I had already found a new job and wasn't checking my TWC account anymore. I just completed the ID.me verification last week and filed my appeal. Reading through all these responses is giving me so much hope - it sounds like most people who were legitimately eligible get their overpayments reversed as long as they can prove they met all the requirements during their claim period. I have my hearing scheduled for next month and I'm gathering all my documentation now. Thanks for posting about this - it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one who went through this! Please keep us updated on how your hearing goes on May 16th. Fingers crossed for both of us!

I'm going through this exact same situation right now! TWC hit me with a $6,100 overpayment notice last month for benefits I received in early 2023. Just like you, I had found a new job and completely stopped monitoring my TWC account, so I missed their ID verification request. I was panicking when I first saw the overpayment amount, but after reading all these responses, I'm feeling much more optimistic. I completed the ID.me verification as soon as I discovered the issue and filed my appeal right away. My hearing is scheduled for early June. It's so reassuring to see how many people have had successful outcomes with similar cases - it really seems like as long as you were legitimately eligible during your claim period and can prove it, the appeal board understands that people naturally stop checking TWC correspondence after returning to work. Thanks for starting this thread, it's been incredibly helpful! Definitely keep us posted on how your May 16th hearing goes.

Just went through this exact scenario last month! You definitely still need to file your payment request even if you made more than your weekly benefit amount - this keeps your claim active. When you report earnings that exceed your WBA, you'll get $0 for that week, but those benefits aren't lost forever. They stay in your account for future weeks when you might not have work or earn less. The key is to always report your earnings for the week you actually WORKED (not when you got paid) and keep doing your required work search activities. I made the mistake of thinking I didn't need to do work searches during a week I was working temp jobs and almost got hit with an overpayment issue. TWC's system will automatically calculate everything once you report honestly, so don't stress too much about the math - just focus on filing on time and being accurate with your reports!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're doing temp work through an agency, make sure you understand how they report your earnings to TWC. Some agencies report weekly, others bi-weekly, and timing can affect which certification period your earnings get attributed to. I had a temp agency job where they paid me for week 1 and week 2 together at the end of week 2, but I had to report the earnings separately for each week I actually worked. Also, keep all your pay stubs from temp work - TWC sometimes asks for documentation during reviews, especially if there are any discrepancies in their system. Better to have everything organized from the start than scramble to find paperwork later!

Welcome to the community! Your Corpus Christi marine/offshore situation is actually one of the strongest cases I've seen for legitimate multi-state job searching. The Gulf Coast maritime industry is absolutely one integrated network - offshore drilling, shipping, port operations, and marine services all operate as regional corridors that completely ignore state lines. Companies regularly move projects between Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida based on where the work is, so your 80% out-of-state contacts make total professional sense. I'm also relatively new here and have been following this thread closely while dealing with my own first audit situation. What's really stood out from everyone's experiences is how reasonable TWC is when you can clearly demonstrate the professional logic behind your search strategy. Your maritime background gives you perfect justification for Gulf Coast-wide searching - that industry knowledge and willingness to follow the work wherever it leads shows exactly the kind of genuine job-seeking effort TWC wants to see. Your documentation plan sounds excellent - explaining how offshore and maritime operations work as integrated Gulf Coast systems plus detailed entries showing industry expertise and relocation flexibility should give TWC everything they need. The fact that you're targeting specific maritime companies based on your professional knowledge demonstrates strategic searching rather than random applications. Based on all the success stories shared in this thread, your legitimate industry-focused approach should put you in great shape for this audit. The marine industry's regional nature is probably even more obvious to TWC reviewers than some other sectors - anyone familiar with Gulf Coast economics knows maritime work moves with the projects and seasons!

I'm completely new to this community and just received my first TWC audit letter today - this entire thread has been an absolute lifesaver! I was in total panic mode because I'm in the Panhandle working in agriculture/farming, and most of my job searches have been across the region including Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico where the major agricultural operations and farming cooperatives are located. Reading everyone's real experiences has completely transformed my perspective from terror to confidence. The agricultural industry operates seasonally across the entire Great Plains region - farming operations, grain elevators, equipment dealers, and agricultural services move with the seasons and crop cycles regardless of state boundaries. I was convinced TWC would automatically flag my out-of-state contacts, but seeing all these success stories with legitimate regional job searching has been incredibly reassuring. The documentation strategies shared here are pure gold. I've been keeping minimal records, but I'm immediately implementing that detailed log format everyone's perfected - company names, contact methods, dates, outcomes, and most importantly the explanatory context about agricultural industry regional operations. The insight about explaining WHY your searches make professional sense rather than just submitting contact lists is invaluable. For my upcoming submission, I'm planning to include context about how agriculture operates across the Great Plains region based on growing seasons and crop markets, plus detailed entries showing genuine agricultural industry knowledge and willingness to relocate for seasonal work opportunities. Thank you to everyone who shared their audit experiences - this thread has become the ultimate resource for newcomers like me navigating their first TWC audit!

Good luck with your verification! You're already ahead of the game having read through all these experiences and tips. The ID.me process itself is pretty straightforward - just make sure you have good lighting for the selfie portion and clear, high-quality photos of your documents. Once you complete it, you'll be in that 3-5 business day waiting window that everyone's been talking about. The key things to remember: enable those text notifications immediately after verification, check your portal daily (not your bank account!), and keep up with your scheduled payment requests. Having realistic expectations from the start makes such a huge difference. You've got this! 💪

Just want to say thank you to everyone who shared their experiences in this thread! I'm currently on day 3 of waiting for my ID.me verification to process and was getting really anxious about the timeline. Reading through all these real experiences has been so much more helpful than the vague info on TWC's website. The consistency of the 3-5 business day timeline across everyone's stories is really reassuring, and I love all the practical tips about checking the portal daily and setting up text notifications. It's crazy how much uncertainty adds to an already stressful situation when you're depending on these funds. Based on everyone's timelines, I should hopefully see my status change today or tomorrow. This thread should be pinned - it's exactly what people need when going through the ID.me verification process! 🙏

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago and it was a nightmare, but I did get my unemployment benefits approved. Here's what I learned: First, file your TWC claim immediately - don't wait for them to maybe pay you. Choose "reduction in hours or wages" as your reason and explain the non-payment in detail. Second, send a formal email to your supervisor/HR TODAY asking for written confirmation of when you'll be paid - this creates the paper trail TWC needs to see that you tried to resolve it. Third, keep showing up to work until you get a response about your claim or find another job - abandoning your position without notice could hurt your case. The whole process took about 3 weeks for me, and I had to do a phone interview where I explained everything. The key is having documentation that shows you made reasonable efforts to get paid before filing. Also definitely file that wage claim like others mentioned - I got my back pay through that process even though it took months.

You're definitely in a tough spot but you have options! In Texas, failure to pay wages is considered "constructive discharge" which means you can file for unemployment even while technically still employed. Here's what I'd recommend: 1) File your TWC claim ASAP - select "reduction in wages" and explain the non-payment situation in detail. 2) Document everything - take screenshots of your work schedule, any communications about missed pay, and send your supervisor an email TODAY asking for written confirmation about when you'll be paid. 3) Continue showing up to work while your claim is processed (unless it becomes unsafe or they tell you not to come in) - this shows you're not abandoning your job. 4) File a separate wage claim through TWC's Payday Law division to try to recover your missed wages. The unemployment process typically takes 2-3 weeks and you'll likely need to do a phone interview to explain your situation. Don't wait for your employer to "figure it out" - protect yourself now. Good luck!