Identity verification nightmare with ESD - wrong driver's license info cost me 5 weeks of benefits

This is extremely important advice! The cross-verification with DOL records is automated, and even a single digit being off will flag your claim for manual review. Unfortunately, as you discovered, the identity verification queue is currently running about 4-5 weeks behind. For anyone reading this who already submitted a claim, you can proactively check if your information matches by looking at your SecureAccess Washington account details and comparing them with your physical ID. If you spot a discrepancy, message ESD through your eServices portal IMMEDIATELY - don't wait for them to flag it. Also worth noting that the name must match EXACTLY - including middle initials, suffixes (Jr, Sr, III), etc. Even hyphenated names need to match precisely how they appear on your ID.

OMG this JUST happened to me!!!! I'm on week 3 of waiting and getting desperate. My rent is due next week and I still haven't received a single payment. How did you finally get someone to actually look at your information? I've left 6 messages and sent 4 secure messages through eServices but no response. I'm starting to panic.

Thank you for sharing this! I work with the WorkSource office (not ESD directly) but I see this issue constantly. Here's some additional information that might help others: 1. The ESD cross-verification system checks against BOTH DOL and Social Security databases 2. Common mistakes that trigger identity verification holds: - Name spelling differences (especially hyphenated names) - Address that doesn't match your current ID - DL number errors (as you experienced) - Birth date transcription errors (especially month/day reversals) 3. If your claim is already in identity verification, the fastest resolution is submitting clear photos of your ID (front and back) plus your Social Security card through the secure message portal. Label it "IDENTITY VERIFICATION DOCUMENTS" in the subject line. 4. Continue filing your weekly claims even while waiting for identity verification - once approved, you'll receive all back payments.

happened to my wife to. her id was expired by like 2 weeks when she applied and she had to wait almost 2 months for benifits. they made her upload a ton of documents and then never even looked at them. finally called and got someone who just approved it over the phone in like 5 minutes. system is a joke

wait so if i already submitted my claim last week with possibly wrong info what do i do? do i need to cancel and restart or can i fix it?

Quick update: After fixing the wrong info on my DL number, my claim was finally approved yesterday and ALL my back payments are scheduled to be deposited tomorrow! So thankful this nightmare is over. If anyone else is stuck in ID verification, don't give up - keep calling and checking your claim status every day.

THE WORST PART ABOUT THIS is that ESD doesn't tell you WHICH piece of information is wrong! If they would just send an email saying "Your driver's license number doesn't match our records" we could fix it immediately! But instead they leave us in the dark for WEEKS guessing what might be wrong. This is by design - they WANT to delay paying people their benefits. I filed a formal complaint with the state ombudsman about this exact issue.

Thanks for this post! Just checked my drivers license against what I entered and realized I put the wrong issue date. Going to send a message to ESD right now before they flag my account. You probably saved me weeks of waiting!

my roommate had this happen to. he entered his weight as 185 but his license says 175 from when he got it years ago. took 5 weeks to fix and he almost got evicted waiting for unemployment to start. they need a better system