EI Claim, how long should it take?

[pankaj]

I was claiming for mat leave they told me it could take 4-10 weeks for a decision to be made. It's kind of crazy that they can make people wait so long.

[cjdimpul]

　
　
I am currently waiting for Service Canada to make a decision to see if I am approved to receive the money, that I was already approved to receive 3 weeks prior of this year.
　
I didn't expect a huge wait because I was told by Service Canada that my old claim would just be re-open it's now 3 weeks and 2 day I was told that I would NOT be waiting a 2 week wait time because i just did on my last claim that was only 2 1/2 weeks ago so they told me it will just be re-open. I had rent due on December 1st with no way to pay it and like the rest of us I live paycheck to pay paycheck in the last 3 weeks I had NO MONEY and I am now going on 4.
The 28 day thing is a sham because if you have not herd a response within 3 weeks start calling because if you don't it will take longer then 28 days it will talk 2 more weeks to get a hold of a person in the upper management to talk to and fix it then 2 more week's to get it in the computer then 1 week to get it in to your bank.
　
I received an ROE from this last employer that i gave to Service Canada . After all, I am just hoping to get money from an old claim, not to create a new claim. So, now it's 7:00am and I've been up all night thinking and cant sleep. I have to go see what the problem is. If they say it's not going to be done by December 15st for one reason or another, then I will default on my lease because I can't possibly pay my rent on TOP of that It's almost Christmas and this is really hard on me right now like very bad.

I have called Service Canada 100 times and only got a hold of them 5 times and was told something different every time I am now at the

Escalation Stage
Complain about Service Canada to help you speed things up
Office for Client Satisfaction (OCS) when you have a complaint about Service Canada that cannot be resolved at the local level
Number Is 1-866-506-6806 (toll-free line) & the site is http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ocs/contactus.shtml
No one will tell you about this number
I hope help is on there way



----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------
----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------
----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------
----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------

[oceanblue]

i placed a mat claim in mid oct and still waiting.

hoping to hear something this wk or next..

[Brynhilde]

i placed a mat claim in mid oct and still waiting.

hoping to hear something this wk or next..

Same here.. When are you expecting?

I ask because I originally filed the claim when I found out I was expecting in June. They never sent me any letters or updated information to let me know that I filed way too soon. It took approximately 13 phone calls and countless hours to finally get someone to tell me that I need to refile the application again (November).

I was done work almost a month ago and did not have to serve a waiting period.. still waiting. They are supposed to update your claim and send you any payments outstanding within 28 days.. I'm on day 20. It's going to be xmas soon, like come on.. where's the xmas spirit??

I feel for whoever is dealing with EI right now.. what a useless system.

[freefreefree]

I guess it will take a little while. I think they are busy especially it is holiday season and with the ecomony down and lots of people might be applying

[Brynhilde]

That's true.. I find in past years from people's experiences of EI that they are always busy regardless of the year or economic time. All I hope for is that they live up to their 28 day standard because technically I had applied for this way in advance and having to wait another month is somewhat inexcusable.

In cheerier news though, I found this website and I have so many coupons to use once I get what I'm entitled to!

[freefreefree]

That's true.. I find in past years from people's experiences of EI that they are always busy regardless of the year or economic time. All I hope for is that they live up to their 28 day standard because technically I had applied for this way in advance and having to wait another month is somewhat inexcusable.

In cheerier news though, I found this website and I have so many coupons to use once I get what I'm entitled to!

I know, I love this site. I got so many freebies and coupon savings. You should also take advantage of the $50 bonus in my signature too and have your family sign up as well and you get some cash bonus.

[Ontarioman]

I applied for EI on the 27th of October after a contract job expired and have been waiting ever since for EI to decide weather or not I am elegible for EI. REO was sent on the 26th of Oct and applied on the 27th of Oct. After the 28th day was up I started calling every few days in reguards to my claim and never got a decent answer. Finally was told by the local EI office that they are backed up completely with Claims and from the date of filing, they said 6-8 weeks. So much for the 28 days rule. I will wait another week or so before I call again. Have already got 2 EI statements saying "We are Working on your Claim" and a 3rd will likely show up on Tuesday. I think the EI system is a Joke and hopefully when I find a full time job I won't need to use EI again. Really frusterating when you have Bills to pay and EI takes forever.

[freefreefree]

I applied for EI on the 27th of October after a contract job expired and have been waiting ever since for EI to decide weather or not I am elegible for EI. REO was sent on the 26th of Oct and applied on the 27th of Oct. After the 28th day was up I started calling every few days in reguards to my claim and never got a decent answer. Finally was told by the local EI office that they are backed up completely with Claims and from the date of filing, they said 6-8 weeks. So much for the 28 days rule. I will wait another week or so before I call again. Have already got 2 EI statements saying "We are Working on your Claim" and a 3rd will likely show up on Tuesday. I think the EI system is a Joke and hopefully when I find a full time job I won't need to use EI again. Really frusterating when you have Bills to pay and EI takes forever.

They are too slow. They forgot that the bill companies can't wait.

[ashedfc]

They are too slow. They forgot that the bill companies can't wait.

True, Their bills are paid from the Govt's salary, so they don't care..

[alleykatt592]

I just got my latest claim straightened out, after a phone call to my local MP.

I am a contract worker and usually always have an open claim. Normally, it is supposed to take 28 days from filing to a decision. I have found that in my case it takes anywhere from 4 - 6 weeks. This year I was waiting 9 weeks.

I was forced to call my MP and explained my situation (single mom, 2 kids, no income other than CTB, VERY little child support, etc...) From my phone call to him, it took me 3 days to have a decision made and my cheque went in the bank this morning (5 weeks worth of benefits, yay!) The MP's assistant explained to me that by claiming "dire straights" a claim is put on priority status. This is something that can be done yourself by calling the 1 800 # and speaking to a rep but I'm sure a call from your MP will make it even faster.

I don't want to get political but Service Canada has had alot of cuts recently. The very reason that I am unemployed is because of cuts to their funding. My MP also told me that this time of the year there are usually extra workers hired to help with the rush (seasonalworker lay offs) but instead this year there were lay offs. If anyone is having issues with this system, a call to your MP to voice a complaint would be a good idea and remember this issue as important in the next federal election.

[Brynhilde]

Persistance when dealing with EI is necessary.. professional harassment may be a better term. I finally received a phone call today stating I was approved and will be receiving benefit payments in a week. My account is also updated to show it too. I made sure to explain my circumstances very well; single parent of a child with special needs, no income other than Child Tax (no child support) and waiting on EI Maternity benefits. I called SC atleast twice a week since the 20th got them to escalate the call every time. They seem to have followed their 28 day rule in this case..

I hope that there are positive outcomes for all of you out there waiting for whats entitled to you. From my experience, all I can say is be persistant and don't give up. Gov't wants you to get frustrated so that you cancel your application or end up finding work so that benefits cannot be paid. MP's office also in my experience have been nothing but unhelpful in my riding and I have never allowed the opportunity to speak with the MP. MP brings issues to the government but it can be very, very difficult to change policy unless there are a lot of Canadians complaining. Go to the MP with your issues but don't expect next year or next election that there is going to be a big change.

[Ontarioman]

Not really sure what is going on with my EI, I called on the 5th of Dec and the Rep told me if I had heard nothing about my EI claim going through by the following Monday, I was suppose to phone back. Tried the last few hrs to contact them.. and it keeps saying: "All Reps are busy, unable to transfer call" keep getting that every time I call them. I filed on the 27th of Oct and this is getting rediculous, no mention of a decision on my claim or even if I need to summit more info, just keep filling out the reports and getting sent a "Benifit Statement" in the mail saying: "We are working on your Claim... A decision will be made soon"... Well they have really wasted a few good trees just to send a note saying: "A Decision will be Made Soon". Already have got two of these silly notes so far and expecting a 3rd one for my 3rd report... Oh well trying to be as patient as possible and will give them another week or so, but it proves how out to wack the EI system really is. Hope this will be the last time I ever need to use EI.
In the meantime I will keep sending out resumes, but I really hope a decision on my claim is made soon!

[Ontarioman]

　
　
I am currently waiting for Service Canada to make a decision to see if I am approved to receive the money, that I was already approved to receive 3 weeks prior of this year.
　
I didn't expect a huge wait because I was told by Service Canada that my old claim would just be re-open it's now 3 weeks and 2 day I was told that I would NOT be waiting a 2 week wait time because i just did on my last claim that was only 2 1/2 weeks ago so they told me it will just be re-open. I had rent due on December 1st with no way to pay it and like the rest of us I live paycheck to pay paycheck in the last 3 weeks I had NO MONEY and I am now going on 4.
The 28 day thing is a sham because if you have not herd a response within 3 weeks start calling because if you don't it will take longer then 28 days it will talk 2 more weeks to get a hold of a person in the upper management to talk to and fix it then 2 more week's to get it in the computer then 1 week to get it in to your bank.
　
I received an ROE from this last employer that i gave to Service Canada . After all, I am just hoping to get money from an old claim, not to create a new claim. So, now it's 7:00am and I've been up all night thinking and cant sleep. I have to go see what the problem is. If they say it's not going to be done by December 15st for one reason or another, then I will default on my lease because I can't possibly pay my rent on TOP of that It's almost Christmas and this is really hard on me right now like very bad.

I have called Service Canada 100 times and only got a hold of them 5 times and was told something different every time I am now at the

Escalation Stage
Complain about Service Canada to help you speed things up
Office for Client Satisfaction (OCS) when you have a complaint about Service Canada that cannot be resolved at the local level
Number Is 1-866-506-6806 (toll-free line) & the site is http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ocs/contactus.shtml
No one will tell you about this number
I hope help is on there way



----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------
----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------
----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------
----------------------update Got it Dec 9/2011 Thank God!--------------------

Glad to see that your EI came through! Hopefully a decision will be made on my claim shortly. I did call the phone # that you posted above and was told by the Rep on the other end that they could not help me with my issues with EI, told me to call the regular EI #, in which I have been calling and reciving a message saying: All lines busy, we can't transfer you over to a Rep. I understand they are busy but its getting rediculous indeed. Hope they have it sorted out by Christmas. Starting my 7th week waiting for my claim to finalize and I am hoping it goes through this week. If it reaches 9 weeks without a decision made I will be calling every day till someone gives me an honest answer in reguards to my claim. Seems "My Service Canada" has been having a lot of maintence lately, hope my claim was not thrown out.

[LCF204]

I wonder why some claims take longer than others...

I filed my dad's EI claim on November 28th, on December 8th he received his confirmation letter and pin in the mail, and on December 9th I used their telephone reporting system to file his claim for the past 2 weeks...