Have you tried speaking with someone DIRECTLY at the unemployment office? I live in NJ too, so I'm assuming the laws/rules about collecting are the same in the north as they are here in the south!

When I had to quit work a little over 2 years ago I got temporary state diability for 6 months, with my psychiatrists diagnosis. As soon as that ran out I called unemployment and the first thing I asked was if I was eligible for unemployment because......and I told them everything. Why I had to leave my job, and that I did collect temp. dis. and now that has just run out. She said right away that I WAS eligible! A real shock to me! I collected for 6 months, and when that ran out they had an extension of benefits available and that gave me about another 3 months of checks! I'm shocked that they are saying you are not eligible.

Unless something has changed in the system you should be eligible. It was only about 2 years ago that I began receiving unemployment, and like I said, no problems and it lasted about 9 months!

You said you'd barely used it at any time in the past, well even prior to this last time I collected I had used it twice before, once for a few months and once for 6 months! I did have an employer try to stop me once and had to stand in the office raising my voice requesting to speak to a live person that could help me because my former employer was lying to them,which is why they refused me benefits, and we ended up in arbitration and then the employer tried to contest it again when the arbitrator found in my favor. I was terrified to call, but called and spoke to a member of the "comittee" in Trenton, I think it was, where they review a still contested case and he was surprisingly very friendly and nice to me! They again, found in my favor. This was about 6 years ago and due to my employers nonsense, but I just wanted to let you see that they seem to be more helpful than they used to be, the system was revamped a while ago to actually make it easier to collect.

Please try to speak with someone in the office in person, use my experience of how I collected after my temp. state disability ran out and ask why you aren't eligible if I was! I've found that if you are persistant and the right person hears your pleas, it's sometimes no problem to get corrected.