Over the past two years, my office has answered many questions about PA Unemployment Compensation (UC) and the federal COVID-19-related programs, like Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance (PUA), which have since ended. Although the employment picture is vastly different than in the beginning of the pandemic, some people still have questions and need assistance. Recently, many calls from constituents have focused on fraud and credit reporting, overpayment notices and appeals. Below you will find information on those topics.
Credit Monitoring Alert (for eligible UC claimants)
Notifications were recently sent to eligible Unemployment Compensation claimants with instructions on how to enroll in credit monitoring services. This letter is from Identity Theft Guard Solutions, Inc. which is located in California, and it is not fraudulent.
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If you received a letter notification and have NOT filed for UC benefits, this means someone may have falsely used your information to apply for benefits. Please notify the Office of Unemployment Compensation by filing a fraud report. Visit the UC fraud page to learn more.
Overpayment Notices
An overpayment occurs when benefits were received that a claimant was not entitled to. Depending on the situation, these overpayments are divided into two groups, fraud/fault overpayments and non-fault/non-fraud overpayments. Some UC or PUA recipients have received Overpayment Notices recently, even though the benefit payments were received early in the pandemic. The type of overpayment category and the program funding the unemployment benefits stipulate the repayment details and possible penalties.
You can find more about Overpayment Notices and specific details at Overpayment of Benefits and Overpayments – UCHelp.org.
Appeals
UC claimants can appeal any determination, including Overpayment. The process involves filling out a department-provided appeal form and submitting it either through US postal mail, fax, email, or the claimant’s UC dashboard. Once filed, an appeals clerk will process it and collect the necessary documents and send to the Board of Review who will then schedule the hearing. Please note that appeals are typically taking at least 3 months (UC appeals) to 6 months (PUA) after the appeal is filed.
If you missed the appeal deadline, you can still file a late appeal. If late, the initial decision will be on the timeliness issue. Provided the UC Referee approves the reason for filing the appeal after the 21-day appeal period, the appeal will then advance.
Overpayment Waiver
Some claimants may be eligible for a waiver of their overpayment if it is related to a federal benefit payment. Individuals who may be eligible should have received waiver information along with their related Overpayment Notices. Please note that these waivers are not applicable to regular UC payments or to state Extended Benefits (EB). You can find out more at Alert: Overpayment Waivers – UCHelp.org or by contacting Unemployment directly.
Contact PA Unemployment Compensation
📞 Phone: 888-313-7284
✉️ Email: [email protected]
Log-in Issues
Recently updated answers to log-in questions, including username retrieval and password reset, can be found here.
PA CareerLink®
PA CareerLink® is your one-stop shop for all your career-building needs, including resume assistance, job postings, training and more. PA CareerLink® has more than 200,000 open jobs listed across the commonwealth. There are numerous resources available for you to jumpstart your career. Take a look at everything PA CareerLink® has to offer at no cost to you: http://pacareerlink.pa.gov.
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