For anyone dealing with overpayment issues, here are some important steps to follow: 1. Always appeal within the 30-day deadline if you disagree with an overpayment determination 2. Request a hearing with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) if your reconsideration is denied 3. Document everything - save screenshots of all submissions and communications 4. Submit any evidence of your eligibility through eServices and by fax (yes, they still use fax) 5. If your appeal is denied, you can request a payment plan or hardship waiver I've helped dozens of people through this process, and persistence is key. Even after a denial, ESD periodically reviews cases, especially when policies change. In 2025, they've been more generous with forgiving older overpayments, particularly those related to work search requirements or employer-reported earnings discrepancies.

I recommend checking your mail carefully for the next few weeks. In my experience, ESD often sends the official forgiveness letter several days (or even weeks) after they've already zeroed out the balance in their system. The letter should explain their reasoning and confirm that the matter is closed. This is an important document to keep for your records.

just curious whats the company they say u worked for? my cousin had this happen with some place called evergreen staffing and it turned out they mixed up ssn's with someone with similar name

Update us on what happens! Your case sounds resolvable but you need to be persistent. Document everything - dates you called, documents you submitted, etc. This will be helpful if you need to escalate the case later. Most importantly, keep filing your weekly claims even during adjudication so you'll get backpay once it's resolved.

btw they do actually check ur docs so dont make stuff up. my friend tried to claim hardship but they denied him cuz his bank statements showed he had savings

Quick update on my situation from last year - I've been completely in the clear for about 6 months now since my waiver was approved. No collections, no further notices, nothing. Just to give you some peace of mind that once it's approved, it really is taken care of!

im confused... if you got a new job why did you need unemployment?? aren't you supposed to stop claiming once you have a job lined up?

Quick update for everyone - my claim was paid retroactively for all 8 weeks it had been pending. I think the key factors that helped were: 1) Having MULTIPLE hardship documents, not just one 2) The letter explaining exactly why I needed immediate action 3) Following up with a phone call to ESD after sending the email (I just mentioned I had submitted hardship documents).

My cousin works for the legislative branch and said they get ESD escalations all the time. She said contacting your STATE SENATOR is actually faster than the governor because they have dedicated ESD liaisons for each district. Just google "[your city] WA state senator" and there should be a constituent services contact form.

Update: I wanted to let everyone know what ended up working! I tried multiple approaches based on all your helpful suggestions: 1. Sent a detailed follow-up to the Governor's office with the specific format recommended 2. Contacted my state senator through their website 3. Used Claimyr to actually get through to an ESD agent The Claimyr service got me to an agent first (same day), who explained my claim had a verification issue that wasn't being processed. They flagged it for review. Two days later, I got an email from my state senator's office saying they'd contacted ESD on my behalf. This morning, my claim status changed from "adjudication" to "paid" with all my back weeks! Not sure which contact finally did the trick, but I think the combination of approaches created enough pressure to get someone to actually look at my claim. Thank you all for your suggestions! For anyone else stuck in ESD limbo, don't give up!