About 327,000 fewer than expected claimants received a waiver. Ken Haddad is the digital content and audience manager for WDIV / ClickOnDetroit.com. We do not know how long this pause will last or when the UIA will start trying to collect these overpayments again. The name of the labor department varies for each state, but it provides a full listing of the state employment offices (see Resources). An earlier suspension expired in May. It has detailed information about the refund. An overpayment happens when you receive more unemployment money than you should have received. The UIA must get your appeal within 30 days from the date it is issued. On April 8, 2022 the Unemployment Insurance Agency announced a new promise to halt new collections activity and waive overpayments. The federal government has expanded its criteria for who can get a waiver that would let people keep that money. Claimants say UIA is lying, More: Attorney for jobless claimants asks judge to stop Michigan from garnishing their wages. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced Friday that those who wrongfully received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits will be granted an overpayment waiver allowing them to keep the money, although many may no longer receive aid going forward. PUA benefits are $300 a week on top of maximum state benefits of $362. and last updated 7:40 PM, Feb 07, 2022. If you run into problems, you may want to try to contact a lawyer. UIA will continue to look at COVID-19 pandemic claims to identify others that may qualify for waivers. State Interest accumulates very quickly on unemployment overpayments. Additionally, roughly $11 million will be refunded to claimants who had been paying back their federal benefits overpayment, or it will be applied to any outstanding debt a claimant may have. Claimants can also call UIAs Customer Service at 1-866-500-0017. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. If this happens, you will get a Notice of Adjustment to Income Tax Refund. The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) has begun to notify claimants who are no longer eligible to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance(PUA) benefits that overpayments will be waived. Video of the Day If your protests were filed on time, the UIA is not allowed to collect money before your case is final. The agency said it doesn't know exactly how many claimants received benefits in the pandemic but were later told they were overpaid benefits through no fault of their own. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced that it has issued waivers to approximately 7,300 state and federal COVID-19 jobless claims from workers in Michigan. Letters will also be mailed to the address on file confirming the MiWAM notification. Your Notice of Telephone Hearing will have instructions on how to do this. Ask the UIA to issue a determination to tell you if the overpayment is the result of the UIAs error. Director Dale is committed to ensuring that no Michigan family be forced to repay benefits due to changes that affected their claims after they applied for benefits. The Program works with judges, courts, lawyers, bar associations, nonprofit legal aid agencies, legal self-help centers, libraries and many others to promote coordinated and quality assistance for persons representing themselves in civil legal matters in Michigan. In the report on Wednesday, the Free Press showed that in at least some of the cases, the mistake was the state's and not the claimants'. The $250 million deposited into the Unemployment Compensation Fund nearly matches the $249 million state portion of the $8.5 billion lost by the state to fraud. At every turn, I will stand up and fight on behalf of Michiganders to make sure they get what they were promised. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency expects to send out waivers to about 382,000 claimants who received overpayment letters by April 29. Many more have never been told why they werent paid the benefits owed, and they still just wait nearly two years later. Select Your County for Lawyers and Other Housing Help, An administrative or clerical error is discovered, You had a legitimate inability to act earlier, The notice or decision arrived late in the mail and you could not respond sooner, You were misled by incorrect information from the UIA, Take your federal and/or Michigan income tax refund. Collaborated with the Attorney Generals office to combat fraud at the agency. He enjoys suffering through Lions games on Sundays in the fall. The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Implemented new policies for employees and contractors, including fingerprinting, criminal background checks, and an updated ethics policy. Rebuilt the Trust Fund to $1.5 billion (and growing). When you file your appeal, ask for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Michigans unemployment agency announced another round of waivers and refunds for filers who were overpaid and asked to pay back the overpayment. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced that it has issued waivers to approximately 7,300 state and federal COVID-19 jobless claims from workers in Michigan. The number of claimants receiving waivers this weekend is lower than the conditional number UIA Director Dale provided in recent testimony. To date, the agency said ithas waived more than$4.3 billion in overpayment debt for more than 400,000claimants. This is a pause on collections only. We wont stop fighting until weve corrected past mistakes made by this agency so that not one innocent Michigander will face consequences as a result of asking for help they needed, said Michigan UIA director Julia Dale in a statement. Some Michigan residents who benefited from billions in overpaid pandemic unemployment assistance may not owe that money back after all. Claimants also can schedule an in-person, phone or online appointment. Related: Unemployment waivers bring relief to thousands. The Michigan Legal Help website and affiliated local self-help centers are part of the Michigan Legal Help Program. To find out if they can help you, apply online or call 1-888-783-8190 Monday - Thursday, 9am - 5pm, or Friday, 9am - 1pm. Delinquent debts owed to other states or federal agencies. UIA: Misrepresentation must be investigated when a claimant provides information that conflicts with information the agency possesses. Each letter will have a due date printed on your determination for when the protest is due. The UIA must get your written protest within 30 days from the date it is issued. State officials worked with the U.S. Department of Labor to issue the first round of waivers last August followed by the second chunk in early May. The UIA waived the repayment of more than $53.2 million in benefits that were received by claimants, providing much needed relief for Michiganders. The waivers will apply to federal benefits received before September 4, 2021, the end date for pandemic unemployment benefits programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and its extensions. The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. There is not an application for this on MiWAM, but you can ask for the waiver by going to your main account page and finding the link "Send Unemployment a Message". Claims determined to be fraudulent or being investigated for fraud. Julia Dale, the director of the agency, told state lawmakers in early April that the agency expectedto send out waivers over this past weekendto about 382,000 claimants who received overpayment letters. This round of waivers accounts for 96% A worker files a claim on the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency website. New waiver qualifications for Michiganders who received unemployment overpayments More people could qualify for Michigan's unemployment insurance agency If you have a question about your PUA overpayments, you may be able to get help from the Counsel and Advocacy Law Line. If claimants qualify for a waiver, UIA will notify them through an online message to their Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) accounts and by a letter mailed to the address on file. It is still unknown on how waivers will be applied and how many or which people it will impact. An individual was eligible for payment and the state issued payment at a higher Weekly Benefit Amount under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. "We wont stop fighting until weve corrected past mistakes made by this agency so that not one innocent Michigander will face consequences as a result of asking for help they needed,"Julia Dale, thedirector of Michigan's UIA, said in the release. Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. Dale is also going after bad actors who steal money from workers, striving for exemplary customer service, and leading the effort to replace the Agencys decade-old computer system with a user-friendly, state-of-the-art interface for claimants and businesses. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced that it has issued waivers to approximately 7,300 state and federal COVID-19 jobless claims from This means the UIA should stop sending collection letters or doing anything else to make people pay these overpayments. Interest accumulates very quickly on unemployment overpayments. When the hearing is scheduled, the judges office will send a Notice of Telephone Hearing to you in the mail. Collaborated with the Attorney Generals office to combat fraud at the agency. In May, UIA applied waivers to 55,000 claims totaling $431 million. Claimants say UIA is lying, Attorney for jobless claimants asks judge to stop Michigan from garnishing their wages, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. For more information on the Financial Hardship Waiver and how to find it on your MiWAM account, visit page 89 of the MiWAM Toolkit for Claimants. Collections of overpayments made before the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 will not be suspended. Three months after the U.S. Department of Labor guidance was issued,the first group of blanket waivers went out to 55,000 claimants. In addition, approximately $2.4 million will be refunded to claimants who were paying back benefits received or applied toward overpayments not covered by the waivers. Reassigned staff and resources to address the largest categories of claims that are contributing to the agencys case backlog. Claimants who receive waivers were sent a message in their Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) online accounts. Workers with questions about overpayment waivers can go to Michigan.gov/UIA and click on the Schedule an Appointment link to set up an in-person, phone or online meeting with a trained staff member. The refund might not mean that the case is over. The announcement came days after the Detroit Free Press reported some workers with overpayment notices were accused of misreporting their income. There is no application process. More Michiganders are still waiting. Michigan paid $8.5B in fraudulent COVID unemployment claims. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced today that it has issued another round of waivers to approximately 7,300 state and federal COVID-19 The programs were Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Mixed Earnings Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) and federal reimbursement for the first week of benefits. instructionalvideos posted by the agency, Michigan Unemployment agency says claimants made big mistake. Your next steps will depend on whether you agree or disagree with the UIAs determination letter. Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com. 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