You missed a MARVIN certification, now what?

If you miss a MARVIN certification or your weekly MARVIN call, and aren’t sure what to expect; buckle up its going to be a bumpy ride.  There are two scenarios the first one is that you will not get paid for the period you missed (most likely two weeks), the other is that you will get paid, but it will take up to six weeks, not ideal but you’ll get your money eventually.

I’m going to be blunt here.

Unless you have an iron clad reason for missing your opportunity to certify with MARVIN either on the phone or online you will not get paid.  The good news is however that you won’t get kicked out of unemployment.

If you do have an iron clad reason for missing your certification, and you get approval that your reason for missing was legitimate it will probably take you up to 6 weeks to get it in your bank account or debit card.  By this time you’ve been paid for the next MARVIN cycle, and also had your home foreclosed on, and your car repossessed.

How To Get Started

To actually get this ball rolling to make up for your missed MARVIN certification you will need to clear out the better part of a week to get a live person on the phone to hear your issue.  It will take a while to get through on the phone, typically you will get a busy signal or line off the hook tone because of the demand.  So brew a cup of coffee, or drink some Red Bull, because you’ll be trying to get through all day; and when you do you’ll be on hold another 20-30 minutes or more.

The number to call is 866-500-0017.

When you get through to a live person you will need to explain your situation, be honest, it’s quite literally the law in this case.

You will possibly be asked questions regarding why you missed such as “Where you incarcerated?” or “Did you miss your call because you were hospitalized” etc.  Try to keep a sense of humor; it’s really all you have left at this point.

Depending on why you missed your call you will get back pay.  As I’ve previously stated it can take up to 6 weeks to get paid, my understanding of this is that the more weeks you missed the longer the appeal process.

Truthfully I know a few people who have missed calls and do not get back pay, you need to have an iron clad reason for not calling in at your time, the extra days, or using MARVIN online.

For instance and iron clad reason worked like this for me:

• My benefit year ended, and MARVIN told me to refile with the state which I did.
• The certification with the state said I needed to call on such and such date which was 3 weeks after my last call for the year.
• I called when the certification said to call 3 weeks later but was not told a dollar amount.
• I called to inquire and was told I needed to call MARVIN on my regularly scheduled 2 week interval, even though my paperwork said a different date (I basically   missed   a certification).
• Since I had my paperwork together I gave my certification number, and explained my situation, and certified for my missed weeks.
• 6 weeks later I got paid, the money showed up one day before my letter informing me I was going to be paid.

Before you hang up the phone make sure you get a clear understanding of your next call in date, depending on how many weeks you missed it may throw off your bi-weekly schedule, which sets you up for another unfortunate missed certification with MARVIN.

In terms of waiting to hear about your appeal the longer it takes to hear from the state the better.  Typically it only takes a day or two to get a letter in the mail that your appeal has been rejected for lacking a qualified reason.  You can start to relax ever so slightly if you don’t get a letter in the mail in the first couple of days, if weeks go by, your missed payment(s) will likely still be on their way.

In the event you get a flat out denial in the mail two days after your call what will happen is your claim period is essentially halted, you are not penalized in that you aren’t paid and completely lose the ability to make a claim, your claim period is pushed out an extra two weeks or more depending on the period you’ve missed.  The important thing is that you will still qualify for future calls to MARVIN for your remaining claim period.  The bad news is you potentially go hungry, miss your rent/mortgage payment, etc.  During these current two weeks.

Update 2021

I’ve included another solution for handling unemployment certification issues in person here is the link (this is paused given the COVID-19 Pandemic).

Good luck to you in your employment search. Check out our other unemployment related tips, and experiences here.  We’re constantly updating as we learn new things, and feel free to browse our site for other light hearted entertainment, and information.  If this information was helpful please help spread it around for us below are the various web ways we can be shared.