Can't reach Washington Unemployment? Claimyr connects you to a live ESD agent in minutes.
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- Redial until on hold
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- Give you free callbacks if the ESD drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
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Just to follow up on some of the questions here - for those having trouble reaching ESD, the Claimyr service I mentioned earlier has been really helpful for my clients. Instead of waiting on hold for hours, it actually calls ESD for you and then connects you once an agent picks up. For overpayment issues specifically, you need to speak with the Benefit Payment Control unit, not the general claims agents. As for approval rates on hardship waivers, they have strict criteria, but financial hardship with dependents (like the original poster mentioned) is one of the stronger cases. Make sure you've clearly documented your income, expenses, and why repayment would cause significant hardship.
I can confirm this worked for me too. After trying for weeks to get through on my own, I used this service and finally got connected to someone who could actually help with my overpayment issue.
To answer your question about hardship waiver approvals - yes, they do approve them regularly, but the standards are strict. For a $43,000 overpayment, they scrutinize everything more carefully. They're looking at: - Whether the overpayment was your fault (not reporting income, etc.) or ESD's error - Your current income-to-expense ratio - Future earning potential - Number of dependents - Medical circumstances - Housing stability If you submitted comprehensive documentation of your hardship and have dependents, your chances are better than average. The approval rate for waiver requests overall is around 38-42%, but for documented hardship cases with dependents, it's closer to 65%.
This is really helpful info, thank you! The overpayment happened because my employer reported my return-to-work date incorrectly, and I didn't catch it until ESD audited my claim. I definitely documented all my expenses, including childcare costs which are enormous. Fingers crossed I fall into that 65%!
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One more important detail: Make sure your husband answers "no" to the standby question unless ESD has specifically approved him for standby status. On-call work is different from official standby status, which requires ESD approval and is typically only granted in specific circumstances like temporary layoffs where you have a return date. And absolutely keep detailed records of all hours worked at the concert venue, including dates, times, and pay. If ESD ever questions his claims, having this documentation will be essential.
That's good to know about the standby question - I think he's been answering that correctly. And yes, we're keeping careful records of everything. Thanks so much for all the help!
Did your husband register with WorkSource yet? They make you do 3 job searches every week now and my cousin got his benefits cancelled when he forgot to log them!
This is important - the job search requirement is back to 3 activities per week in Washington, and they're being more strict about enforcing it in 2025. Make sure he's documenting all job search activities properly in his weekly claims.
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is anyone else noticing that ESD keeps changing their policies??? last year my brother only had to provide ONE form of ID but now they want TWO from everyone? and then they take FOREVER to process them! i bet they're just trying to delay payments to save money. the whole system is designed to make people give up!!!
They actually changed the ID verification requirements after the massive fraud cases during the pandemic. The two-ID requirement has been standard since mid-2023. While processing times are frustrating, it's not a deliberate attempt to deny benefits - they're just understaffed and dealing with a lot of claims.
make sure u answer ur phone even if u dont recognize the number!!! sometimes ESD calls from random numbers and if u miss it they just mark ur file as 'unable to contact' and delay everything another week!
Oh wow, I didn't know this! I've been ignoring unknown numbers because of all the spam calls. I'll definitely answer everything now, thanks for the tip!
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Make sure you're also aware of the difference between your "hours worked" and "hours offered" - if your employer offers you full-time work (whatever that means for them) and you decline those hours to stay on unemployment, ESD could potentially disqualify you for refusing suitable work. So be careful how you handle the conversation with your manager. When you report your weekly claim, you need to report any hours offered that you turned down, not just hours you actually worked.
Oh wow, I didn't think about that part. My manager hasn't officially offered anything yet, just mentioned the possibility of more hours. I'll be careful about how I respond when we have that conversation. I definitely don't want to get disqualified!
back when i filed in 2025 ESD told me that you have to report ALL EARNINGS regardless of how many hours and they calculate ur benefit. i think they deduct like 75% of what u earn from ur weekly amount?? So if u make $100 they take away $75 from ur benefit. i dunno exactly though just know u gotta report everything
You're on the right track, but the formula is that you can earn up to $5 with no deduction, then for earnings above $5, they deduct dollar-for-dollar from your weekly benefit amount. So if your WBA is $400 and you earn $105, they would deduct $100 (everything above the $5 threshold) and you'd receive $300 for that week.
QuantumLeap
just make sure ur ready early my phone hearing they called 10 mins before the scheduled time and i almost missed it lol
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Natasha Volkov
Looking at what you said about your separation letter mentioning both "budget-related workforce reduction" AND "voluntary separation" - that's actually quite common. Employers often try to frame layoffs as voluntary to avoid impacting their unemployment insurance tax rates. This is exactly the type of evidence that can win your case. The judge will likely see through this contradictory language. The fact that you also have emails mentioning "layoffs" is very helpful. One more piece of advice: be very clear that you would have continued working if given the option. Make sure to state that you did not choose to leave and had no reasonable alternative employment options within the company. This is crucial for distinguishing between a quit and a layoff.
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