The DE 2587 form, formally the Notice of Automatic Payment, is a notice California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) mails to Disability Insurance claimants along with their first automatic benefit payment. You do not fill it out to start or continue a claim. You keep it, and you sign and return it only if you recover or return to work before the estimated recovery date your doctor gave the EDD. Sending it back promptly stops your payments and prevents an overpayment you would otherwise owe back to the state.
When the DE 2587 Arrives
The EDD issues the DE 2587 at the same time it releases your first automatic disability payment. Not every claimant is placed on automatic payments; those who are receive benefits on a regular schedule without certifying every two weeks. Claimants who are not on automatic payment instead receive a Claim for Continued Disability Benefits (DE 2500A) every two weeks and certify their ongoing disability through that form.
After 10 weeks of automatic payments, the EDD sends a separate form, the Disability Claim Continuing Eligibility Certification (DE 2593), to confirm your disability continues. That form is not the DE 2587, and the two serve different purposes.
When You Need to Return the DE 2587
Sign and return the DE 2587 only if something changes before the estimated recovery date on file. There are three situations:
- You recover before your doctor’s estimated recovery date.
- You return to work, part time or full time, before that date.
- A claimant has died, and you need to report the date of death.
If you recover or return to work on the exact date your doctor originally provided, you do not need to do anything. Payments stop automatically on that date.
How to Return the Form
You have two options: SDI Online or mail.
Through SDI Online
If you have an SDI Online account, the EDD emails you when the DE 2587 is ready to complete electronically. Log in, open your SDI Online inbox, and select “Notice of Automatic Payment.” Complete the Recovery or Return to Work Certification section and submit. This is the faster route and gives you immediate confirmation of receipt.
By Mail
The paper DE 2587 arrives with a self-addressed return envelope. Fill in the Recovery or Return to Work Certification portion, sign, and mail it back. If the envelope is lost, the return address appears on the form itself. Allow about 10 business days for the EDD to process the form after it arrives.
What Happens If You Don’t Return It
Failing to return the DE 2587 after you have recovered or gone back to work early is one of the most common causes of Disability Insurance overpayments. The EDD keeps issuing automatic payments through the estimated recovery date, and every dollar you receive after you were no longer eligible becomes a debt you owe back.
The EDD classifies overpayments as either fraud or non-fraud. If the department determines you intentionally withheld the fact that you had recovered or returned to work, the overpayment is treated as fraud. A fraud overpayment carries a 30 percent penalty on top of the amount owed, and you can be disqualified from future benefits for up to 23 weeks. If the overpayment was not your fault, for example if you genuinely did not know you needed to return the form, it is classified as non-fraud and no penalty is added.
How the EDD Collects
Once an overpayment is established, the EDD first offsets the debt against future benefits. For non-fraud overpayments, it deducts 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount from any future Unemployment Insurance, Disability Insurance, or Paid Family Leave payments. For fraud overpayments, the offset is 100 percent of future benefits until the balance is paid, and the 30 percent penalty is still owed separately.
If offsets do not clear the debt, collection escalates. The EDD can withhold your federal and state income tax refunds, intercept lottery winnings and unclaimed property, and take legal action including summary judgment, recording a lien on your property, serving an earnings withholding order, or issuing a bank levy.
If You’ve Already Been Overpaid
The DE 2587 is not the form you use to challenge or waive an overpayment. If you receive a non-fraud overpayment notice and cannot afford to repay it, the waiver request goes on a Personal Financial Statement (DE 1446), and you can only submit one after the EDD mails a DE 1446 to you.
Two conditions must be met for a waiver under California Unemployment Insurance Code Section 1375 (unemployment) or Section 2717 (disability). The overpayment must not have resulted from fraud or willful misrepresentation, and repaying it must be “against equity and good conscience,” meaning it would cause extraordinary financial hardship. The EDD compares your household income to family income thresholds and considers whether repayment would prevent you from covering basic living expenses.
California’s rules define fault as well. A claimant who accepted benefits they knew or should have known they were not entitled to is at fault. A claimant who kept benefits because they relied in good faith on a departmental error is not. If the EDD made the mistake, your waiver case is stronger.
If the waiver is granted, the debt is canceled and collection stops. If it is denied, you receive a Denial of Overpayment Waiver together with a Notice of Overpayment and an appeal form. You have 30 days from the mailing date on the notice to appeal in writing to an administrative law judge.
The Paid Family Leave Version
Paid Family Leave claimants get a parallel form, the Notice of Automatic Payment – PFL (DE 2587F). It works the same way. The EDD sends it when automatic PFL payments start, and you return it if your family member recovers, your bonding period ends, or you return to work before the expected end of your leave. Returning it promptly stops payments and prevents a PFL overpayment.
The practical rule with the DE 2587 is short. Keep it where you can find it. If you recover or go back to work before your doctor’s estimated date, return it right away through SDI Online or in the mail. That single step is the difference between a clean claim closure and an overpayment notice arriving months later.