While many Floridians are still fighting to get all the unemployment benefits they are owed, one local woman says she is still waiting to start receiving benefits.
“The time has run out and I don’t know what else to do,” Crystal Moses said.
Moses is a mother of two. She says her frustration with Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), the agency that runs the unemployment system, is at an all-time high.
She says she has tried for months to resolve an issue with her unemployment claim.
A screenshot of her account in the CONNECT portal shows her account is locked and under the claim status are the words “Not Registered.”
The DEO has previously told NBC 6 Responds, “If a claimant sees the ‘Not Registered’ status on the claim, it means they need to complete the application.”
According to the instructions on the DEO website, a claimant should “complete the Reemployment Assistance application and submit it for processing.”
But these are steps Moses says she isn’t able to do because her account has a message stating “Access to this claim is unavailable, additional information is needed to confirm your identity.”
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Moses says she sent additional documentation verifying her identity but weeks after, she says she is still waiting.
“It is very frustrating to know that you call and you do everything that is asked of you and yet and still nobody seems to care to help you,” Moses said.
The latest numbers from the DEO show roughly 92% of eligible claimants have been paid but thousands of claims are sitting in the identity verification queue.
Moses says she has months of back rent to pay and hopes she starts getting her benefits before the eviction process does.
“I am not asking for a handout. This money is owed to me. I worked for it,” Moses said.
We reached out to the DEO about Moses’ claim and asked how many other people have a claim that is locked and listed as "Not Registered." We are still waiting to hear back.
