ESD benefits expired with weekly benefit amount discrepancy - can I recover the difference?
Just had my unemployment benefits expire last week and I'm confused about something in my final paperwork. The notice says my weekly benefit amount was supposed to be $999, but throughout my entire claim I was only receiving $927 before taxes were taken out. That's a difference of $72 per week that I apparently should have been getting but wasn't? I went back through all my payment history and yep - never got more than $927/week. Does anyone know if ESD will reimburse you for underpayments after your claim expires? Or am I just out of luck on the money I should have received? Has this happened to anyone else?
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Mateo Rodriguez
The same thing happened to me back in January! My benefit amount on the final notice was $1,182 but I'd been getting $1,064 the whole time. I called ESD (took FOREVER to get through) and they said it was an adjustment based on my base year wages that should have been applied from the start. They ended up issuing a supplemental payment for the difference for all weeks. Definitely worth following up on!
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Nia Thompson
•Oh wow, that's good to know! Did they just automatically deposit the difference or did you have to fill out additional paperwork? And how long did it take to get the money after you talked to them?
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Aisha Abdullah
This sounds like what's called a "redetermination" of your weekly benefit amount (WBA). Sometimes ESD gets additional wage info after your initial determination that changes your WBA. The question is: when did that $999 amount first appear on your notices? If it only showed up on your final notice, it might be a recent redetermination. If it's been there the whole time, then yes, you've been underpaid and should contact ESD immediately.
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Nia Thompson
•That's the weird thing - I went back and looked at my initial determination letter from when I first filed (found it in my email) and it DOES say $999 there too! So I've been underpaid the whole time and never realized it until now comparing the numbers. I feel so stupid for not catching this earlier.
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Ethan Wilson
just fyi they only have to pay u for underpayments going back 1 year i think so if ur claim was longer than that u might only get part of it back
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Aisha Abdullah
•That's not quite right. For unemployment benefits, ESD can correct underpayments for the entire benefit year (which is typically 52 weeks from when you first filed). There's no 1-year limitation if your claim was within a single benefit year. However, there is a statute of limitations for claims that ended more than a year ago - those can be harder to get corrected.
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NeonNova
You need to call them asap!! The same thing happened to my sister and she waited too long and they said something about a time limit for corrections. Dont wait!!
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Yuki Tanaka
I've been working on unemployment claims for years and this sounds like a classic WBA calculation error. Here's what you need to do: 1. Download and print your initial monetary determination letter showing the $999 amount 2. Print out payment history showing the $927 payments 3. Call ESD directly and ask for the "benefits payment unit" - they handle these discrepancies 4. Be prepared to fax or upload these documents through your eServices account Under WAC 192-240-030, they are required to correct underpayments when identified, but you need to be persistent. The payment should include interest in some cases.
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Nia Thompson
•Thank you so much for this detailed advice! I've been trying to call for the past two days but keep getting the "high call volume" message and disconnected. Do you know if there's a better time of day to call or any other way to reach them? I'm starting to get really frustrated with the phone system.
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Carmen Diaz
I had to call ESD 23 times yesterday before I finally got through!!! Their phone system is THE WORST. But when I finally reached someone, they were actually pretty helpful. Try calling right when they open at 8am, that's how I finally got through.
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Andre Laurent
•I've been dealing with the same phone issues for weeks. Finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an ESD agent in about 15 minutes instead of having to call repeatedly. Saved me so much frustration! Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 Defnitely worth checking out especially for something like this where you're potentially owed money and NEED to talk to someone.
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Nia Thompson
UPDATE: I finally got through to ESD this morning! The agent confirmed I was underpaid throughout my claim. They're going to issue a supplemental payment for all weeks I claimed (23 weeks total). The difference comes out to about $1650 before taxes that I'm owed! She said it should be deposited within 5-7 business days. Thanks everyone for your help figuring this out - I would have just assumed I was out of luck if I hadn't posted here.
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Mateo Rodriguez
•That's awesome! Glad it worked out and you're getting your money. Their systems are so glitchy sometimes.
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Ethan Wilson
•wow thats a lot of cash!! congrats
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Aisha Abdullah
This is a great reminder for everyone to carefully review their initial monetary determination and compare it to the actual payments received. ESD's system doesn't always correctly apply the WBA calculation, especially if you had multiple employers or irregular earnings in your base year. For anyone else reading this: you can request a redetermination of your weekly benefit amount at any time during your benefit year if you think there's an error. Don't wait until your benefits expire like the original poster did - the sooner you catch these issues, the faster they can be resolved.
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