ESD claim shows 'disqualified' status despite approval letter - no payments for 5 weeks

This happened to me last year. The 'disqualified' status sometimes appears even when your claim is actually being processed. Check if you have any alerts in your eServices account that require a response. Sometimes they need additional verification documents but the notification gets buried. Also make sure you completed your MFA setup - I missed that step and it caused a similar issue. If there are no alerts, it could be that you were initially approved but then something in your weekly certifications triggered a review (like reporting earnings or answering a question differently than expected). This puts you in a weird limbo where you're technically approved but not receiving payments.

weird the same exact thing is happenin to me!!! been 6 weeks with no $$ and my letters say approved but status says disqualifed. called like 50 times nobody answers ever. this system is such garbage

Did you check if this is a new claim or continued from a previous benefit year? Sometimes if you had a claim before, the system gets confused when you file a new one. My husband's claim said disqualified for weeks because his new claim was competing with an old expired one in the system.

The disqualified status is definitely concerning, but it doesn't necessarily mean you won't get paid. When you see contradicting information in your ESD account, it usually indicates one of three things: 1. An adjudicator needs to review something on your claim (even if no issues are showing) 2. There's a system error in the ESD database 3. There's a conflict between information you provided and what your employer reported In your situation, I'd recommend: 1. Continue filing weekly claims without fail 2. Send a detailed message through the ESD portal explaining the contradiction 3. Contact your state representative - they have special channels to ESD 4. Request a formal determination letter if you don't already have one The system has been overwhelmed since the pandemic, and while it's better now, these types of errors still happen frequently. The important thing is to keep a paper trail of everything.

i had a similar experience last month and it turned out i had accidentally entered incorrect info on ONE of my weekly claims (i put the wrong date for a job interview) and that triggered the whole thing to stop. but the weird part was it didn't tell me there was a problem anywhere! just silently stopped paying. might be worth double checking all your weekly claim info.

I've been through this nightmare twice now. If you want to actually speak to someone at ESD, I finally had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They basically help you get through the phone system without waiting for hours. I was skeptical at first, but after weeks of not getting through on my own, I tried it and actually spoke to an ESD agent within about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 The agent I reached was able to see that my "disqualified" status was actually due to a system flag that wasn't visible to me on my account. They fixed it on the spot and my payments started processing the next day.

Your scenario reminds me of what happened with my nephew. His claim looked disqualified but he was actually approved. ESD's computer system is NOTORIOUSLY bad at updating statuses correctly. His problem was that he had moved recently and they were trying to verify his identity but sending mail to his old address! Worth checking if your address is updated in BOTH places - the SAW account AND the ESD profile can have different addresses stored.

Another thing to check - sometimes your claim can show as disqualified if there's an identity verification issue. With all the fraud during COVID, ESD implemented stricter verification processes. Check if there's any correspondence about ID verification in your notices section. If there is, respond to it ASAP with the requested documents. If you still can't get through on the phone, try contacting your local WorkSource office. They don't directly handle unemployment claims, but they sometimes have dedicated liaisons who can escalate issues to ESD. I've heard of people having success with this approach when nothing else worked.

After reading through your situation, I'm almost certain you're caught in what we call an "adjudication loop" - where your claim requires manual review but hasn't been assigned to an adjudicator yet. The system shows disqualified as a default status during this limbo period. A few important points: 1. The approval letters you received were likely for your initial monetary qualification (meaning you earned enough in your base year), but something else triggered a non-monetary review 2. The contradiction between your letters and status is typical of the ESD system's poor integration between different modules 3. You MUST continue filing weekly claims during this period or you'll lose eligibility for those weeks 4. The fastest resolution will come from speaking directly with an ESD agent who can see the specific flag on your account This is unfortunately very common in 2025, especially since ESD lost so many of their experienced staff after the pandemic surge ended.