TWC denied my DUA claim despite hurricane delaying my job start date - what can I do?

You need to file an appeal ASAP. You only have 14 calendar days from the date on your determination letter to submit it. DUA has different eligibility requirements than regular unemployment, and it sounds like you might have been denied because you weren't actually working at the time of the disaster. For DUA, you typically need to show you were either 1) already working, 2) couldn't start a job specifically because of the disaster, or 3) became the breadwinner after the head of household died in the disaster. Make sure your appeal includes very specific documentation about your job offer, the original start date, and exactly how the hurricane prevented you from starting work.

same thing happened to my brother in law. total bs system.

The exact same thing happened to me!! I was supposed to start at this resort that got completely flooded and they denied my claim saying I "wasn't officially employed yet" even though I literally couldn't start because of the hurricane! This is so frustrating I've been calling them for 3 days straight and just get busy signals!

Did you make sure to check the right box on the application? They have this really confusing question about "were you unable to work because of the disaster" vs "were you unemployed as a direct result of the disaster" and a lot of people pick the wrong one. My sister had to reapply twice.

Here's what you need to understand about DUA that most people don't realize. It's NOT the same as regular unemployment insurance. With DUA, you qualify if you were supposed to start work and couldn't because of the disaster, BUT you need to have the right documentation. The TWC doesn't make this clear enough. You need ALL of these documents for your appeal: 1. Written job offer with the ORIGINAL start date (before the hurricane) 2. Letter from employer specifically stating the job would have started if not for the hurricane damage 3. Documentation of the hurricane damage to the workplace (photos, insurance claims, etc.) 4. Proof that the job was eventually started when the business reopened I went through the appeal process and won, but only after getting all this documentation together. Don't give up! This happens to many people and they often win on appeal with the right documentation.

i got denied too but then my friend told me to appeal it and i got approved eventually. dont give up

I think everyone gets denied the first time to be honest. The system is designed to reject claims automatically hoping people will just give up and not appeal.

After dealing with this for weeks, I finally got my appeal approved yesterday! Here's what worked: I got my employer to write a much more specific letter that explicitly stated 1) my original start date, 2) the exact address of the workplace, 3) a detailed description of the hurricane damage, and 4) confirmation that the delay was SOLELY due to the hurricane damage. I also included photos of the damaged building my boyfriend took right after the storm (luckily he had these). The TWC representative also told me they're dealing with a huge backlog of DUA claims right now because of how many businesses were affected.

One more important thing - while your appeal is pending, make sure you continue to request payment for each two-week period. Even though you'll get a message saying you're currently ineligible, you need to keep submitting those payment requests. If your appeal is successful, you'll only get paid for the periods you properly requested payment for. A lot of people stop doing their payment requests while waiting for an appeal decision, and then they lose out on those weeks of benefits even if they win their appeal.