How do I reopen my unemployment claim with Washington ESD after stopping benefits?

You should be able to reopen your existing claim as long as you're still within your benefit year. Log into your SecureAccess Washington account and look for a 'Reopen Claim' option on your unemployment dashboard. Don't file a new claim unless Washington ESD tells you to.

I had the same thing happen to me last year. You definitely want to reopen rather than file new because you'll keep your original weekly benefit amount. Filing a new claim might lower your benefits if your recent wages were less.

If you can't get through to Washington ESD by phone (which is likely), I recently discovered Claimyr at claimyr.com. They help you get connected to actual Washington ESD agents without sitting on hold for hours. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Might be worth trying if you need to talk to someone about reopening your claim.

Make sure you have documentation of when your temporary job ended. Washington ESD will want proof that you're unemployed through no fault of your own when you reopen.

ugh the Washington ESD system is so confusing! I've been trying to figure out the same thing for weeks. Why can't they make this stuff more straightforward??

Just wanted to add - when you do reopen, you'll need to serve a waiting week again unless you already served one on your original claim. Check your payment history to see if you had any unpaid weeks at the beginning.

Whatever you do, don't wait too long to reopen. I waited almost 3 weeks and it created all sorts of complications with my claim. Washington ESD acted like I was trying to commit fraud or something.

For anyone still struggling to reach Washington ESD about reopening claims, I'll mention Claimyr again because it really saved me when I was in a similar situation. Their service got me connected to an agent who walked me through the whole reopen process over the phone. Way better than trying to guess what to do online.

Just reopened mine last month after being off benefits for 6 weeks. The process was actually pretty smooth once I found the right link. Make sure you're looking under 'Manage Claims' not just the main dashboard.

Be prepared for them to ask about any work you did between when you stopped filing and now. Even part-time or gig work needs to be reported when you reopen.

The Washington ESD customer service line is useless. I called 47 times yesterday and got hung up on every single time. This system is broken.

Make sure you keep filing your weekly claims once you reopen, even if the first few weeks show as pending or under review. Missing weeks will just create more problems.

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now. Found the reopen option under Manage Claims like someone mentioned earlier. Still waiting to see if it goes through without issues.

One thing to watch out for - if your benefit year expired while you weren't filing, you'll have to file a completely new claim instead of reopening. Check your benefit year end date in your account.

For what it's worth, I had success using Claimyr when I needed to sort out my reopened claim that got stuck in adjudication. The agent they connected me with was able to see exactly what was holding things up and fixed it during the call.

UPDATE: Found the reopen option under Manage Claims! It was hidden in a submenu. Submitted the request and now it shows as 'pending review.' Hopefully this works without needing to call anyone. Thanks everyone for the help!

Congrats on finding the reopen option! Just a heads up - while your request is pending review, start gathering all your documentation (termination papers, any work you did between claims, etc.) in case they ask for additional verification. Also, once it's approved, you can usually start filing your weekly claims right away even if the first payment takes a bit longer to process. The key is not to let any weeks go unfiled once you're active again. Good luck!