This thread is such a goldmine of information! I'm currently in my first week of SDI for a shoulder injury and reading through everyone's experiences has me both grateful and terrified. Grateful because I now know to be proactive about checking form codes and fax numbers with my doctor's office, and terrified because it sounds like EDD's system is designed to trip people up at every turn. The fact that they can just stop payments without warning at the 12-week mark when people are most vulnerable is honestly cruel. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread and start preparing early for potential extension requirements. It's ridiculous that we need to become EDD experts just to get benefits we've paid into, but thank you all for sharing your knowledge and making this maze a little more navigable for newcomers like me!

As someone who just started my SDI claim last week for ankle surgery, this entire thread has been both incredibly helpful and absolutely terrifying! The number of people experiencing the exact same issue - payments suddenly stopping around week 11-12 with zero communication - really shows how broken EDD's system is. It's mind-boggling that they don't send any kind of heads up about extension requirements when they know most people don't understand the difference between supplementary certifications and actual extension requests. I'm already calling my doctor's office tomorrow to verify they have the current fax numbers and understand the correct form codes. Also setting calendar reminders for weeks 10 and 11 to proactively contact EDD about extensions rather than waiting for them to blindside me like they did to everyone here. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and solutions - this community is literally doing EDD's job for them at this point. It shouldn't take a village to figure out basic benefit requirements, but I'm so grateful this village exists!

This thread has been such a lifesaver! I've been lurking here for weeks dealing with my own SDI claim that's been pending for 5 weeks after my cervical spine surgery. Like everyone else, I've been completely unable to get through on the main disability line - that "call capacity" recording has become the soundtrack to my nightmares! The general information line trick that @Finley Garrett figured out is absolutely brilliant - what a creative way to work around the broken system! And learning about assembly member and senator offices being able to help is such valuable information that I wish was posted everywhere. It's both amazing and depressing that this community has had to reverse-engineer all these solutions just to access our own benefits. I'm definitely trying the 8am general info line approach tomorrow, and I've already looked up my assembly member's contact info as backup. This thread has become the most comprehensive SDI resource guide I've found anywhere - honestly more helpful than the entire EDD website! Will absolutely report back with my results to keep building this incredible knowledge base everyone has created. Thank you all for sharing what actually works instead of just complaining - this community support means everything when you're stressed about money while trying to recover from surgery!

This thread has become absolutely amazing - like a comprehensive survival guide for SDI phone hell! I'm currently dealing with my own claim that's been stuck for 3 weeks after my shoulder surgery, and reading through everyone's experiences has been both reassuring and incredibly helpful. The general information line trick is such a clever workaround - I never would have thought to try a different queue to bypass the main disability line bottleneck! And I had no idea about assembly member and senator offices being able to help with EDD issues. That's such valuable backup information that should be widely known but somehow isn't. It's honestly both impressive and ridiculous that this community has had to reverse-engineer all these solutions just to access benefits we've paid into our entire careers. This thread contains more practical advice than anything on the official EDD website, which really says something about how broken the system is. Going to try the 8am general info line strategy tomorrow morning, and I've already looked up my local representative's contact info just in case. Will definitely update with my results to keep adding to this incredible resource everyone has built together. Thanks to everyone for sharing what actually works - this kind of community support is exactly what people need when they're stressed about finances while trying to recover from medical procedures!

yall need to chill. the systems overloaded, theyre doing their best. just be patient

This is such a common issue unfortunately. I went through the exact same thing last year - payments just stopped out of nowhere with zero communication. Turns out there was a "pending issue" on my account that I could only see by logging into the portal and digging through like 3 different menus. Check your account online first, then try the callback services if you can afford it. Also keep screenshots of everything - you'll need them later. The whole system is a mess but don't give up!

As someone who works in healthcare administration, I see these kinds of date confusion issues all the time! One thing that might help future readers is understanding that medical offices often have different staff handling different parts of the disability paperwork process. Sometimes the person filling out the DE 2501 form only has access to certain appointment records and might miss the full timeline of care. If you're ever in this situation again, when you're scheduling your initial consultation for a planned surgery, specifically mention that you'll be filing for SDI and ask them to make a note in your chart about the connection between that first visit and your upcoming disability claim. This can help ensure all the dates line up correctly on the paperwork. Also, for anyone reading this - most doctor's offices are happy to provide you with a copy of any disability forms before they submit them if you just ask. It takes 30 seconds and can save you weeks of headaches later! Glad everything worked out for you, Amara!

Wow, reading through this entire thread has been so educational! I'm new to this community and had no idea how complex SDI claims could be. It's amazing how what initially looked like a scary denial notice turned out to be just a date adjustment that was actually calculated correctly. The biggest takeaway for me is how important it is to understand the difference between when you first see a doctor for a condition versus when your actual disability starts. I never would have thought that a pre-surgical consultation weeks earlier would affect the claim start date calculation. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and expertise here - this thread is going to help so many people who face similar situations. It's reassuring to know there's such a supportive community here willing to help decode EDD's confusing language and processes!

Just wanted to jump in here and share some encouragement! I went through this exact same situation about 6 weeks ago - extension approved, submitted my supplementary certificate, and then had to play the waiting game. I ended up getting my payment on day 7, which seems pretty consistent with what everyone else is experiencing here. The hardest part is definitely the anxiety while you're waiting, especially when you really need the money. But reading through all these recent experiences, it's clear that the 7-10 day timeline is pretty reliable once your extension is approved and you've submitted a complete certificate. One small tip I'd add - if you're like me and tend to obsessively check your account, try setting specific times to check (like once in the morning and once at night) rather than constantly refreshing. It helped keep my stress levels down during the wait! Since your extension is already approved, you're really in the home stretch. That approval is honestly the biggest hurdle in this whole process. Hang tight and try not to stress too much about calling unless you hit that 10+ day mark. You've got this! 💪

I'm in a very similar situation right now - just submitted my supplementary certificate yesterday after getting my extension approved! Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly reassuring. The consistent 7-10 day timeline that people are sharing gives me so much hope, and it's clear that once you get past the extension approval (which sounds like the hardest part), the payment processing is pretty reliable. I really appreciate all the practical tips people have shared - especially about double-checking that the doctor filled out every section completely, confirming EDD received the documents in the online portal, and setting up account alerts. The advice about limiting how often you check your account to avoid driving yourself crazy is spot on too! 😅 It's so frustrating that we have to deal with rude customer service and long wait times for money we're entitled to, but this community has been amazing for sharing real experiences and timelines. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share - it makes this stressful process so much more manageable when you know what to expect. Fingers crossed we all get our payments processed smoothly! 🤞