Can't reach Washington Unemployment? Claimyr connects you to a live ESD agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the ESD
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- 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!
Ask the community...
- 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 :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
For what it's worth, I used Claimyr when I needed to speak with someone at Washington ESD about appeal timelines and they were super helpful. Worth checking out if you need specific information about your case that you can't find online.
Multiple people have mentioned them now. I might have to try it since I can't get through to Washington ESD any other way.
Yeah the phone situation with Washington ESD is ridiculous. Claimyr actually got me to someone who could look up my specific case details.
I'm new to this community but dealing with a similar situation. My employer just filed an appeal on what seems like day 29 or 30 - I'm not sure exactly when they received the notice but I've been collecting benefits for about 5 weeks. Reading through all these responses is really helpful, especially knowing that I should continue getting paid during the appeal process. I was panicking thinking the payments would stop immediately. Does anyone know if there's a way to check exactly when the initial determination notice was mailed to my employer? I want to see if they might have missed the 30-day deadline.
Welcome to the community! You can call Washington ESD directly to ask for the mail date of your determination notice, though as others mentioned the phone lines are tough. You could also check if you kept your original determination letter - it should have the mail date on it. That date is what starts the 30-day countdown for your employer. If you've been collecting for 5 weeks and they just filed, there's a good chance they're cutting it very close to the deadline or might even be late. The fact that multiple people here have mentioned using Claimyr to actually reach someone at Washington ESD might be worth considering if you can't get through the regular phone lines.
Join the conversation
I'm going through something similar with my Uber driving income dropping way off. From what I've learned reading through all these responses, it sounds like the main takeaways are: 1) Regular unemployment is only for W-2 employees, not contractors like us, 2) The pandemic PUA program that helped gig workers ended in 2021, and 3) There might be other assistance programs worth exploring through WorkSource Washington or DSHS. It's frustrating that the safety net doesn't really cover gig workers, but at least now I know what options to look into. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and suggestions!
That's a really good summary! I'm new to this whole gig work thing and was wondering the same questions. It's disappointing that there's such a gap in coverage for contractors, but I appreciate everyone breaking down the reality of the situation. The WorkSource and DSHS suggestions seem like good places to start looking for alternative help. Hope things improve for both of you soon!
I've been following this discussion and wanted to share my experience as someone who transitioned from gig work to traditional employment partly for this reason. I drove for Lyft for about a year and faced the same income volatility issues. What really opened my eyes was realizing that not only do we miss out on unemployment benefits, but we also don't get workers' comp if we're injured on the job, and we're responsible for all our own taxes and vehicle expenses. I ended up taking a dispatcher job with a local logistics company - less flexibility but way more security. The peace of mind knowing I have unemployment protection, health insurance, and paid time off has been worth the trade-off. For anyone in Washington dealing with income drops from gig work, I'd also suggest checking out the state's Basic Food program and energy assistance programs through LIHEAP - these can help bridge the gap while you explore other options.
This is really insightful, thanks for sharing your transition story! I've been wondering about making a similar move but wasn't sure if giving up the flexibility would be worth it. Hearing about the workers' comp angle is eye-opening too - I hadn't even thought about what happens if I get hurt while delivering. The logistics dispatcher job sounds like a good middle ground since you're still in the transportation/delivery world. Did you find it hard to adjust to having set hours after being used to working whenever you wanted? And thanks for mentioning the Basic Food and LIHEAP programs - I'll definitely look into those as short-term help while I figure out my next steps.
Join the conversation
I had knee surgery last year and I had the same exact problem. I ended up waiting until 2 days after my surgery to file and it went through fine. Make sure you know your first day of missed work too because they'll ask for that exact date. Also my doctor's office was really familiar with the certification form and had it ready for me when I asked.
I'm going through something similar right now! I filed my PFML claim about 6 weeks before my scheduled hip replacement surgery and got denied for the same reason - no qualifying event yet. It's so frustrating because the whole process feels backwards. Reading through everyone's responses here has been really helpful. I'm definitely going to wait until after my surgery (scheduled for next month) and then file a completely new claim. It sounds like the key is getting that Certification of Serious Health Condition form filled out properly by your doctor. One question though - has anyone had issues with their doctor's office not being familiar with the Washington PFML forms? I'm worried my surgeon's office might not know what they're doing since they see patients from multiple states.
I had the same concern about my doctor's office not being familiar with the forms! What I did was call ESD directly and asked them to email me the Certification of Serious Health Condition form ahead of time. Then I brought it to my pre-surgery appointment and explained what it was. My surgeon's office hadn't seen it before but they were able to figure it out pretty easily since it's mostly just asking for medical details they already have in my file. You might want to download the form from the ESD website and bring it to your pre-op appointment so they can get familiar with it before your surgery date.
Join the conversation
I'm actually going through this exact same situation right now - got laid off from my warehouse position two weeks ago due to "operational restructuring" (which is just fancy talk for budget cuts). I was totally confused by the discharge terminology too! Reading through everyone's experiences here has been really helpful. It sounds like as long as you were laid off for business reasons rather than performance issues, selecting "discharge" is the right choice. I'm planning to file my claim this weekend and will make sure to be very specific in the details section that it was due to company cost-cutting measures. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's really reassuring to know that most people with similar situations got approved without major issues!
I'm in almost the exact same boat! Got laid off from my distribution center job about a week ago due to what they called "budget optimization" - basically the same thing as your operational restructuring. It's crazy how companies use these fancy terms when they really just mean they're cutting costs by eliminating positions. Reading through all these responses has definitely eased my anxiety about the whole discharge terminology thing. I was overthinking it so much, but it's clear now that since we were both let go for business reasons rather than anything we did wrong, we should be fine selecting discharge and explaining the circumstances. I'm going to file my claim early next week too. Hopefully we both get through the process smoothly! Keep me posted on how it goes for you.
I went through the exact same confusion when I got laid off from my packaging job earlier this year! The "discharge" terminology is really misleading - it sounds so official and scary, like you did something wrong. But it's actually just the legal term Washington ESD uses for any time your employer ends your employment, regardless of the reason. Since you were clearly laid off due to budget cuts and not fired for misconduct, you should definitely select "discharge" on your application. I was in a nearly identical situation (company downsizing due to financial constraints) and got approved within about 3 weeks. The key is being detailed in your explanation about why you were let go. ESD will contact your former employer to verify the reason anyway, so as long as they confirm it was budget-related layoffs, you should have no problems getting benefits. Don't let the confusing terminology delay your filing - the sooner you apply, the sooner you can start receiving the benefits you're entitled to!
Gabriel Graham
Thanks everyone for clearing this up! I feel much better about my unemployment situation now. Just going to focus on filing my weekly claims and doing my job searches. No need to worry about PEUC or any other programs that don't exist anymore.
0 coins
NeonNova
•You've got the right attitude! Keep it simple and you'll be fine.
0 coins
Drake
•Good luck with your job search! The market is pretty good right now in most sectors.
0 coins
Mei Liu
Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through the transition from pandemic programs to regular UI. I was on PEUC in 2021 and when it ended, I had to file a new regular Washington ESD claim. The process was actually pretty straightforward - just had to go through the normal application process like anyone else. The confusing part was that my PEUC claim just... stopped, and I had to figure out on my own that I needed to file a new regular claim. Washington ESD could have communicated that transition better, but once I got the new claim going it was much simpler than dealing with all the pandemic program complications.
0 coins
TillyCombatwarrior
•That transition period sounds really confusing! I'm glad I'm starting fresh now without having to deal with switching between different programs. Did you have any gap in benefits when your PEUC ended and you had to file the new regular claim?
0 coins
Eva St. Cyr
•Yeah there was about a 2-3 week gap while I figured out what happened and got the new claim processed. I wish Washington ESD had sent some kind of notification explaining the transition instead of just cutting off payments. But honestly, regular UI is so much less stressful than dealing with all those pandemic program extensions and changes.
0 coins