ESD deposited payment without approval notification - Is this normal?
So this is weird and has me a little paranoid. I filed for unemployment about two weeks ago after being laid off from my IT support job. I went through the whole process, did the waiting week, and filed my first weekly claim last Sunday. This morning I checked my bank account and saw a deposit from ESD for $825! Great news except... I never got any kind of notification saying my claim was approved? There's nothing in my ESD correspondence inbox, no emails, and no physical mail has arrived. The claim still shows as 'pending' when I log in. Did I just get lucky or is something wrong here? I'm worried they'll realize they made a mistake and I'll have to pay it back. Has anyone else received payment before getting official approval?
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Aisha Rahman
That's actually pretty common these days. ESD has been processing so many claims that sometimes the system automatically pays out while the status indicators are slow to update. I had something similar happen in January - got paid for two weeks before I received the official approval letter in the mail. As long as you've been honest on your application and weekly claims, you should be fine. The online portal is notoriously slow to update sometimes.
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Mateo Perez
•That's a relief! I was 100% honest on everything. Did your claim status eventually update in the portal? Mine still says 'pending' even after the deposit hit.
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CosmicCrusader
congrats on the $$$! wish mine worked that fast lol. been waiting 3 weeks and nothing but radio silence from esd.
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Ethan Brown
•If you've been waiting that long with no updates, you might have an issue that needs attention. I had to wait 4 weeks once because they needed additional information but never sent me a notification. Try using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual ESD agent. They helped me bypass the endless phone wait. There's a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. It's way better than spending hours on hold or getting hung up on.
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Yuki Yamamoto
DON'T SPEND THAT MONEY YET!!!! This happened to me last year and it was a NIGHTMARE. My claim looked approved, I got a payment, and then two weeks later they said I wasn't eligible and wanted ALL THE MONEY BACK plus interest!! The ESD system is completely broken and they make these mistakes ALL THE TIME. Call them immediately and get it in writing that you're approved!!!!
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Mateo Perez
•Oh no... that's exactly what I'm afraid of. Did you end up having to pay it all back? I really need this money but I don't want to touch it if there's a chance they'll ask for it back.
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Carmen Ortiz
•This type of situation is fairly rare, and usually happens when there's a specific eligibility issue that wasn't initially detected. While it's always good to be cautious, I wouldn't panic yet. The more common scenario is that the payment processing system simply runs ahead of the notification system. That said, it's not a bad idea to set the money aside for a week or two until you receive official confirmation, just to be safe. You can also check your "Determination Letters" section in your eServices account, as sometimes approval notifications appear there before anywhere else.
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Andre Rousseau
i got money before notification 2, its was fine for me. system is weird sometimes lol
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Mateo Perez
•Thanks for sharing your experience! Did you just keep filing your weekly claims like normal after that happened?
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Zoe Papadakis
This exact thing happened to my brother in 2022, except his payment was like $1200 or something. Anyway he freaked out too but then the approval letter came in the mail like 4 days later. ESD is just super slow with the paperwork part. As long as you qualified for UI benefits and didn't lie on your application you're totally fine. Btw make sure you're doing your three job search activities each week and documenting them! That's where people usually get in trouble later on if they get audited.
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Mateo Perez
•Thank you! Yes, I'm already keeping careful records of all my job search activities. I've been applying to at least 5 positions each week and saving screenshots of everything. Just trying to do everything by the book so there's no issues down the road.
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Aisha Rahman
Just to follow up - check your spam folder for emails from ESD as well. Their system sometimes sends important notifications that end up filtered. Also, in my experience, the physical mail with your official monetary determination can take up to 10 business days to arrive, even though they've already started paying you. The system is designed to get you money quickly while the paperwork catches up.
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Mateo Perez
•Good call on the spam folder - just checked and nothing there, but I'll keep an eye on it. It's been exactly 10 business days since I applied, so maybe the letter will show up this week. Thanks for the reassurance!
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Yuki Yamamoto
By the way, to everyone saying it's fine - the problem isn't always about eligibility! Sometimes ESD calculates your benefit amount wrong and then realizes it later. My friend was getting $890 a week for three weeks, then suddenly they said his actual benefit was only supposed to be $670 and he had to pay back over $600! So even if you ARE approved, they can still mess up the amount and demand repayment. The whole system is just broken beyond belief.
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Carmen Ortiz
•That's a fair point about potential benefit amount adjustments. These typically happen when wage information is initially incomplete or when employers report different quarterly earnings than what was estimated. To minimize risk of this happening, OP could verify that the payment amount matches what was shown in their monetary determination (if they received one), or calculate their expected benefit amount using ESD's formula: approximately 63% of your average weekly wage up to the maximum benefit amount (currently $929 in 2025). This can give some peace of mind about whether the payment seems accurate.
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CosmicCrusader
update? did u get the official letter yet? im curious cuz im still waiting on my first payment 😩
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Mateo Perez
•Just got the official approval letter in the mail today - 12 days after the payment! And my online status finally changed from pending to active. So looks like everything is fine, it's just that their notification system lags behind their payment system. Hope you get your payment soon!
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