What Are the Different Types of Unemployment Insurance?

Unemployment insurance helps people get income when they no longer have a job, and there are several types of insurance available, depending on where a person used to work and what conditions caused his unemployment. In the United States, regular and extended unemployment insurance are the two most common varieties, and regular unemployment is given to people who have worked in the same state for two years or more. Interstate insurance and combined wage claim (CWC) insurance are for workers who have worked in different states. Disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) is for people who are unemployed because of a major disaster, and they tend to receive more help than other insurance types allow. Ex-military unemployment insurance is for people who previously served in the military.

Regular unemployment insurance is the most common type, and it is for workers who have worked in the same state for two or more years. People who have been let go because of misconduct receive less insurance, and they are not eligible for extended coverage, though they can still get some insurance money. Extended coverage, which is meant for people who have exhausted regular unemployment payments, allows people to get extra coverage if the unemployment rate is high.

If people have worked in one or more states in the past two years, then they must apply for either interstate or CWC unemployment insurance. Interstate insurance is meant for people who have recently moved to a different state but have spent most of the past two years working in the state from which they moved. People applying for interstate insurance must apply for coverage with the state from which they moved. CWC is meant for people who have worked in several different states, and the wages from each state may be combined.

The most common causes of unemployment come from being terminated or laid off, but disasters also can cause unemployment if they destroy businesses or other places of work. This type of unemployment is not the workers' fault, so this unemployment insurance tends to pay for the longest time, typically around 26 weeks. If an event is not considered a major disaster, then the unemployed may have to apply for regular unemployment.

Ex-military unemployment insurance is for people who served in the military in the past 18 months. To receive coverage, these people must present their discharge papers. Those with honorable discharges will commonly have no problems receiving this coverage, but people with dishonorable discharges may encounter some difficulties, depending on why they were dishonorably discharged.