How do I know if I owe unemployment benefits back to Washington ESD?

Washington ESD will definitely send you an official overpayment notice if they determine you owe money back. It's called a Notice of Overpayment and it comes by mail to your address on file. You can also check your online account at secure.esd.wa.gov - any overpayments would show up in your benefit payment history.

same thing happened to me, i was so worried about owing money back but never got any notices. if you reported your work correctly you should be fine

I actually had to deal with this recently. If you have an overpayment, Washington ESD is required to send you written notice within a certain timeframe. The notice will explain exactly how much you owe, why they think you were overpaid, and your appeal rights. Don't panic if you haven't received anything - no news is usually good news in this case.

I was in the exact same boat as you last year - constantly worried about whether I'd reported my part-time work correctly while on UI. The anxiety was killing me because I couldn't get through to Washington ESD to verify anything. I finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually gets you connected to ESD agents. They have this demo video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ. I used it to call and confirm my account was clean - such a relief!

WASHINGTON ESD IS THE WORST ABOUT COMMUNICATION! They'll let you worry for months then suddenly hit you with a massive bill. I got an overpayment notice 14 months after my claim ended. Apparently I was supposed to report some temp work differently than I did. The system is completely broken.

just got my notice last week after 6 months. owed $400 because i didnt report some uber driving correctly. at least it wasnt thousands like some people

The key thing to understand is that Washington ESD has up to 3 years to discover and pursue overpayments, but most are caught much sooner. They use automated systems to cross-check your reported wages with employer records, so discrepancies usually surface within the first year.

i think the worst part is not knowing. like they should just tell you upfront if theres a problem instead of making people worry for months

For what it's worth, if you do eventually get an overpayment notice, don't panic. You have 30 days to appeal if you disagree with their determination. Many overpayments are reduced or eliminated during the appeal process, especially if the claimant made good faith efforts to report correctly.

Check your credit report too! Sometimes overpayments can affect your credit if they go to collections, though Washington ESD usually tries to work with people first.

Just wanted to follow up on my earlier comment about Claimyr - I actually used them again last month when I had questions about my new claim. Still works great for getting through to Washington ESD agents when you need real answers instead of just worrying.

my friend owed like $5000 back to washington esd and they garnished his tax refund. scary stuff

If you're really worried about this, you could try requesting a full accounting of your benefits and payments from Washington ESD. That would show you exactly what you received and what wages they have on file for you.

honestly the whole system is so confusing that i dont blame people for making mistakes. they should make it clearer how to report part time work

I had this same anxiety and turns out I was fine. If you made good faith efforts to report correctly and haven't gotten any notices after 8+ months, you're probably good. Washington ESD is pretty aggressive about pursuing overpayments when they find them.

Another thing - if you do owe money back, Washington ESD has to follow specific procedures. They can't just demand immediate full payment. They're supposed to work with you on payment plans based on your financial situation.

pro tip: keep all your records from when you were collecting benefits. pay stubs, weekly claim confirmations, anything showing what you reported. if there ever is an issue you'll need that documentation

The bottom line is Washington ESD has sophisticated systems for detecting unreported or misreported income. If there was a significant issue with your claims, they likely would have caught it by now. Eight months without any contact is a good sign.

if it makes you feel better, when i did get my overpayment notice it was very clear about what the issue was and what my options were. washington esd may be slow but they are thorough with their documentation

One last thought - if you ever do need to talk to Washington ESD about this stuff, that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier really does work. I was skeptical at first but it saved me hours of trying to get through on my own.