How do you know if your Washington ESD unemployment was approved?
I submitted my initial unemployment claim through the Washington ESD website about 10 days ago and I'm going crazy trying to figure out if it was actually approved or not. I can log into my account but the status just says 'claim filed' and doesn't really tell me much. I've been doing my weekly claims but I have no idea if I'm even going to get paid. Is there supposed to be some kind of approval notification? How long does it usually take to find out if your claim went through? I'm really stressed because I need to know if I should be looking for other income sources.
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Yuki Yamamoto
You should get a determination letter in the mail within 7-10 business days of filing. It will either say approved or denied and explain your weekly benefit amount if approved. You can also check your payment status in your online account under 'Payment History' - if you see pending payments that's usually a good sign your claim was approved.
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Ethan Brown
•Thanks! I haven't gotten any mail yet but I'll keep checking. The payment history section is empty for me so far.
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Carmen Ruiz
•Mine took almost 2 weeks to get the letter but the online account updated first with my benefit amount
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Andre Lefebvre
Check your 'Claim Summary' page in your Washington ESD online account. If your claim is approved, you'll see your weekly benefit amount listed there along with your claim balance. If it shows $0 for weekly benefit amount, that usually means there's an issue with your claim.
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Ethan Brown
•I see a weekly benefit amount of $467 listed - does that mean I'm approved then?
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Andre Lefebvre
•Yes! If you have a weekly benefit amount showing, your claim was approved. You should start receiving payments for any weeks you've filed claims for.
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Zoe Dimitriou
•Same thing happened to me - saw the benefit amount before I got the letter
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QuantumQuest
I've been trying to call Washington ESD for weeks to check on my claim status but can never get through. The phone system is absolutely terrible - either busy signals or it hangs up on me after being on hold forever. There has to be a better way to get information about your claim status.
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Jamal Anderson
•I had the same problem with calling Washington ESD until I found this service called Claimyr. They basically call for you and get you connected to an actual agent. I used it last month and finally got through to someone who could explain my claim status. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.
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QuantumQuest
•That actually sounds really helpful! I'm so tired of wasting hours trying to get through on the phone.
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Mei Zhang
•Never heard of that but honestly anything is better than the current phone system
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Carmen Ruiz
Another way to tell is if you start getting the weekly claim reminder emails from Washington ESD. They usually only send those if your claim is active and approved.
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Ethan Brown
•I have been getting those emails every Sunday so that's probably a good sign
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Yuki Yamamoto
•Yeah the weekly reminders are definitely sent to approved claims only
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Zoe Dimitriou
dont stress too much about it, if you filed everything correctly it should be approved automatically unless theres some issue with your work history or reason for separation
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Liam McGuire
•That's not always true - sometimes claims get flagged for adjudication even when everything looks fine
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Zoe Dimitriou
•true but most claims go through without problems
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Amara Eze
I got approved but then had to wait 3 weeks for my first payment because of some identity verification thing. Even if you're approved doesn't mean you'll get paid right away unfortunately.
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Ethan Brown
•Ugh that's exactly what I'm worried about. How did you resolve the identity verification issue?
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Amara Eze
•Had to upload a bunch of documents through the secure messaging system. Took forever but eventually got sorted out.
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Andre Lefebvre
•Identity verification is pretty common now - just make sure to respond quickly if they request documents
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Giovanni Ricci
The Washington ESD website is so confusing. I've been approved for months and I still can't figure out half the stuff on there. At least the weekly claims part is straightforward once you get used to it.
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NeonNomad
•Agreed, the interface could definitely be more user-friendly
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Ethan Brown
•Yeah I'm hoping it gets easier to navigate once I know what I'm looking for
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
If your claim goes into adjudication that's when things get really complicated. You won't know if you're approved until they finish reviewing whatever issue came up. That process can take weeks or even months.
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Dylan Mitchell
•My claim was in adjudication for 6 weeks because of a dispute with my former employer. Finally got approved but it was stressful not knowing
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Ethan Brown
•How do you know if your claim is in adjudication? Is that something that shows up in your account?
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
•Yes, it will show up in your claim status or you'll get a notice explaining what they're reviewing
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Sofia Martinez
I wish Washington ESD would just send a simple email or text when your claim status changes. Having to log in and check constantly is annoying.
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Dmitry Volkov
•They do send some emails but not for everything unfortunately
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Ava Thompson
•Would be nice if they had better notifications for sure
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CyberSiren
Check if you have any 'to-do' items in your account. If there are tasks you need to complete, your claim might be on hold until you finish them. I missed a work search requirement notice and my payments got delayed.
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Ethan Brown
•Good point, I should double check that section. I haven't seen any notifications but I'll look more carefully
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Yuki Yamamoto
•The to-do list is usually pretty obvious if there's something pending. If you don't see anything there you're probably good
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Miguel Alvarez
Sometimes the determination letter gets lost in the mail too. I never got mine but my claim was definitely approved because I started getting payments. You can request a duplicate letter through the messaging system if you need it for records.
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Ethan Brown
•That's good to know - I'll request a duplicate if I don't get the original soon
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Zainab Yusuf
•Mail delivery has been really unreliable lately so that's definitely possible
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Connor O'Reilly
I actually used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier when I couldn't get through to Washington ESD about my claim status. Worked exactly like they said - I got connected to an agent within a few minutes instead of spending hours on hold. The agent was able to confirm my approval status and explain when I'd receive my first payment. Definitely worth it if you're having trouble getting through.
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Yara Khoury
•How much does something like that cost?
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Connor O'Reilly
•It's pretty reasonable considering how much time it saves. Way better than losing entire days trying to call yourself
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QuantumQuest
•I'm definitely going to try this if I can't get through again this week
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Keisha Taylor
The key thing to remember is that even if you're approved, you still need to file your weekly claims every week and meet the work search requirements. Approval is just the first step - you have to keep up with all the ongoing requirements to keep getting paid.
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Ethan Brown
•Yeah I've been doing my weekly claims and job searches. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting my time if the initial claim wasn't even approved
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StardustSeeker
•Smart to check - no point doing all that work if your claim got denied for some reason
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Paolo Marino
One more thing - if you see a weekly benefit amount in your account summary but your first payment is taking a while, it might be because of the waiting week. Washington has a one-week waiting period for new claims, so your first payable week might be delayed even if everything is approved.
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Ethan Brown
•I forgot about the waiting week! That could explain why I haven't seen any payments yet even though I filed two weekly claims
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Andre Lefebvre
•Exactly - the waiting week catches a lot of people off guard. Your claim can be approved but you still won't get paid for that first week
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Amina Bah
•The waiting week is such a cruel policy when people are already struggling financially
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