DENVER (KDVR) — As thousands of unemployed Coloradans are expected to see a $375 stimulus payment hit their bank accounts Wednesday, issues with weekly unemployment payments continue.
Several people have reached out to the FOX31 Problem Solvers this week with complaints, claiming they’re unable to get a hold of Department of Labor representatives on the phone with their issues.
“I’ve exhausted all the funds I have and Social Security just gets me by,” said Richard Krafft, who works in Durango. “I’m really getting desperate.”
Krafft qualified for pandemic unemployment assistance with Colorado unemployment back in July and was approved.
“Early on they asked for additional I.D. to date. I have sent them a copy of my driver’s license, Social Security card and passport through fax, email and through the post office a total of 14 times to date with no response,” said Krafft. “I keep submitting my weekly claim and they keep denying them because they say I haven’t provided them with the ‘additional I.D.'”
The Problem Solvers reached out to the Department of Labor about Krafft’s situation, as well as that of Christine Anson, who lives in Aurora and cares for two other adults.
“Just in the last week my status went from approved to inactive and I don’t know why,” said Anson.
Anson tells FOX31 she never received a regular payment has no method to contact someone personally. She filed for unemployment in May and was approved.
“I don’t know what to do. I was offered a call in July but it didn’t ring. I was supposed to have one in December but that seems to have disappeared,” said Anson. “Now when I ask for a callback it says none are available.”
The Department of Labor said on Wednesday they have tripled their call center staff since the start of the pandemic. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment tells the Problem Solvers the main reasons for a delay in benefits include failing to provide wage information, submitting the wrong bank account numbers, failure to follow up on department information requests and signs of possible fraud linked to the claim.