ESD sent partial refund of overpayment I repaid - Do they refund interest first?

same thing happened 2 me last year!! they did a partial refund first then the rest came like 3 weeks later. no explanation, just random deposits. ESD does whatever they want lol

The overpayment refund system is so messed up. I had a similar situation where they determined I was eligible after I'd already paid back an overpayment. I got refunded in THREE separate deposits over about 45 days. No rhyme or reason to the amounts either! One was like 30% of the total, then 45%, then the remaining 25%. NOBODY could explain why. So frustrating.

ESD doesn't typically refund just the interest first - they're required to apply payments first to interest and penalties, then to the principal amount. So your partial refund is more likely the first installment of your total refund. What probably happened is that they determined you were eligible for some or all of the weeks they previously said you weren't eligible for. This triggers their refund process, which can come in installments depending on how they're processing your case. You should eventually receive a letter explaining the refund calculation, but it will likely arrive after the deposits have been made. If the remaining balance doesn't arrive within 2-3 weeks, you'll need to contact them.

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to someone at ESD? I was in a similar situation with an overpayment refund question and was going crazy trying to reach someone. I found this service at claimyr.com that got me connected to an actual ESD agent in about 25 minutes. There's a video demo of how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 I explained my situation to the agent and they could see exactly what was happening with my refund - turns out they were sending mine in two payments because different departments were handling different weeks of my claim. Saved me weeks of stress!

To directly address your question: No, ESD does not refund interest separately from principal amounts. Here's what typically happens with overpayment refunds when they determine you were actually eligible: 1. They reprocess your claim and determine you were eligible for some/all weeks 2. Their system generates refund payments (can be in multiple parts) 3. The first refund often arrives before any notification letter 4. Remaining amounts typically process within 2-6 weeks Their accounting system dates back to the 1980s (seriously) which is why refunds often come in strange increments rather than logical divisions. If you received exactly 29.6% of your total, that's actually a common first refund amount I've seen in many cases - it's related to how their batching system works.

Wait I'm confused - why are you getting a refund of an overpayment? Aren't overpayments when YOU owe THEM money? I got an overpayment notice last month and they said I have to pay them back $4300!!! Are you saying I might get some of that back??

I work in finance (not for ESD) and can tell you that government refunds often come in weird chunks because of budget allocation processes. Different parts of your claim might be paid from different funding pots, especially if your claim crossed a fiscal quarter boundary or involved both state and federal funds. That's probably why you're seeing a partial refund with more to come.

anybody else notice ESD always seems to take FOREVER to give you YOUR money back but if THEY think you owe THEM they want it back like yesterday?? 🙄

Update for everyone in this thread: ESD recently changed their overpayment refund process in January 2025. Previously, refunds over $1500 were automatically split into multiple payments for "system processing reasons." Under the new system, refunds should come as a single payment unless different weeks of eligibility are being processed separately. The OP's case sounds like it's still under the old system OR involves weeks being handled by different departments (regular UI vs. extended benefits, for example). For reference, the standard processing time for the remainder of split refunds is now officially 21 business days from the first payment, though it can be faster.