Procedure Announces To Apply For FUP Benefit Overpayments In Missouri
The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has announced the procedure that has been put into place for claimants to apply for a potential waiver of federal pandemic program unemployment benefits overpayments. Mailings to those claimants began last week, but are also available in the “Correspondence” tab of UInteract. UInteract is Missouri’s online unemployment benefits service.
Claimants who receive the notice have 30 days from the date of the notice to apply, and are strongly encouraged to apply online through UInteract. Each application must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, as required by federal guidelines. DES is anticipating a large number of requests and will be working as quickly as possible to review each application and issue a determination. Upon receipt of an application for waiver of recovery, all recovery activities will remain suspended for all eligible overpayments until processing is complete and all rights to appeal have been exhausted.
The waiver provision applies to overpaid benefits for weeks ending February 8, 2020, through June 12, 2021.
The waiver of recovery only applies to non-fraud federal benefit overpayments paid under the CARES Act. Regular state unemployment insurance (UI) overpayments, Extended Benefits (EB) overpayments, and overpayments that resulted from claimant fraud are not eligible for waiver. DES will resume collection activities in August for any overpayment that is not eligible for waiver of recovery.