Stuck in ESD adjudication for 6 weeks with bills piling up - should I keep waiting?

same boat here!! been waiting 7 weeks in adjudication. its total bs how they expect people to survive. my neighbor waited 10 weeks before he got anything. i think they just hope we give up tbh

I was in adjudication for 5 weeks back in February. What finally worked for me was contacting my state representative. Their office has special liaisons who can reach ESD directly. I emailed them explaining my hardship situation (I was about to miss a mortgage payment) and they managed to get my claim pushed through in about 8 days after that. Worth a try!

this happened to me too! the system is broken intentionally to discourage ppl from getting benefits we deserve. they KNOW we can't wait 2months for money. i ended up getting denied after 8wks waiting for literaly no reason they made up some bs about my employer saying i was fired for misconduct which was a LIE!!!

I work as an employment counselor and I see this situation frequently. Some important things to know: 1. Adjudication is taking longer than usual right now because ESD implemented a new fraud detection system in March 2025. Claims that would've been auto-approved before are getting flagged for manual review. 2. While you wait, make sure you're still filing your weekly claims correctly. This is critical! If you don't file for even one week, your claim could be canceled and you'll have to start over. 3. Since you mentioned you started part-time work, be extremely careful with reporting your hours and earnings accurately each week. Even small mistakes here can trigger additional adjudication. 4. If you're truly facing eviction, call the Washington Homeowner Assistance Hotline at 1-877-894-HOME. They have emergency rental assistance programs that might help while you wait for unemployment. 5. Contact your state representatives as someone mentioned. They genuinely can help expedite claims with hardship circumstances.

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to ESD? I was in a similar situation last month and couldn't get anyone on the phone after trying for weeks. A friend recommended Claimyr and I was skeptical, but it actually worked! Their system calls ESD for you and then connects you once they have an agent on the line. Saved me hours of redial hell. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 Once I got through to an actual person, they found that my claim had a simple identity verification flag that could be cleared on the spot. My payments started 3 days later. Worth every penny when you're facing eviction!

I'm surprised no one mentioned this yet - if you're facing eviction, you need to request an expedited hardship review. This is different from the regular adjudication process. Call the main ESD number, then when prompted say "hardship" clearly. This should route you to a different queue. When you get a person, specifically ask for a "financial hardship expedited adjudication review" and explain your housing situation. Have documentation ready about your eviction risk (notice from landlord, past due bills, etc). This process is designed specifically for situations like yours, and they're required to make a determination within 72 hours. It's not widely advertised but it exists for emergency situations. Also, document EVERYTHING. Every call, every person you speak with, every message you send. If you end up needing to appeal anything, this documentation is invaluable.

I've been on both sides of this process (former ESD temp worker during covid and now a claimant myself). Here's what's likely happening: When a claim goes to adjudication, it's assigned to a specific adjudicator who handles a caseload of 100-200 claims at once. They work them roughly in order received, but certain issues take priority. Six weeks is unfortunately not unusual right now. The system is severely backlogged because they cut staff after the pandemic but claim volumes have gone up again with the recent tech industry layoffs. Your best options are: 1. The hardship review mentioned above 2. Contacting your state rep (this really works) 3. If those fail, try reaching a Tier 3 agent who can see notes on your claim and potentially escalate it One last thing - check your spam folder and ESD secure message center DAILY. Many people miss time-sensitive questions from adjudicators and this delays claims even more.

lol at everyone giving complicated tips. let me tell u what REALLY happens - ESD doesn't care if u get evicted. they take forever ON PURPOSE so people give up. my cousin works for DSHS and says the whole system is designed to be frustrating. the only thing that works is being a SQUEAKY WHEEL. call Every. Single. Day. use claimyr if u have to. email them constantly. message them on twitter publicly. contact ur rep. make noise until they deal with u just to shut u up. sad but true.

UPDATE: I wanted to thank everyone for their advice! I tried several approaches simultaneously: 1. Used Claimyr this morning and got through to an agent in about 15 minutes 2. Asked for the hardship expedited review 3. Also emailed my state rep The agent I spoke with was actually really helpful. She said my claim was flagged because my former employer didn't respond to their initial inquiry (typical). She submitted an expedited review request based on my hardship situation and said I should hear something within 72 hours. I'll update again when I know more, but I'm feeling much more optimistic now that I at least know what's happening. Thanks again for all your help!