In general the unemployment system does not give a rats patootie why you got behind on your payments that caused your termination. The thought on this is that you were the one who accepted a job that required all this commuting, and you worked at it for quite a while. You had an option of finding work closer to your home, or moving, or requesting a transfer, which it sounds like you eventually did.
However, as you said, you had worked at this job quite a while, having to drive all this way "without being reimbursed" and you bought the items on payments while working like this and commuting this distance. That was no surprise. You obviously did think you'd be able to make the payments, even though you had to drive all this way. And then you did fall behind on your payments. Don't try to argue any sympathy card about how far you were driving or what a hardship this was to you. Unemployment insurance is not a needs based program and it is never a concern of theirs whether you were being paid enough, or whether you are really really poor and really really need the money. It's all about whether you are out of work through no fault of your own, if you had the opportunity to change your behavior and not lose your job, if you were given adequate warning about what was going on, whether the employer had a valid MISCONDUCT reason to terminate you.
The questions they'll be interested in are, did you know that if you fell behind on the payments to your employer, it would cause your termination? How far behind were you? Was there a company policy regarding this issue? Did you make any effort to resolve the situation with the employer when you realized your payments were falling behind? You say you had never received anything official telling you that if you fell behind, you'd be terminated. That's good for your side of the case. In other words, was there any reason that you knew you were in danger of being terminated, and anything you could have done to have kept your job?
But forget about figuring out what you should do or say right now or whether or not you'll be approved. File the claim immediately, and let them sort it out. You'll file the claim and tell your version of why you're not working there anymore, and the office will contact your employer and get their information. Then an initial decision will be made about whether or not you are approved. Then either party can appeal and a second hearing will be held, with both parties having the right to be there, and they'll make another decision.
Be sure when you file the claim that you read the material about making the weekly certifications carefully. After the claim is filed, when there is an issue, there will probably be several weeks before you would ever begin getting any weekly checks, even if they do approve the claim. And you MUST make weekly certifications after each week passes after you have filed the claim, even though you have not been determined to be eligible. And the instructions for making these weekly certifications, and directions for participating in all the required job seeking activities will be on the website. You will be back paid for each week you have certified for if the claim is approved.
If you file the claim, and a week or so passes without your hearing anything from the unemployment system, or you can't figure out how to make the weekly certification, or whether it has been accepted, CALL SOMEONE. Hold the line until you have talked to a living person, even if it takes hours and hours. Don't just assume you've been denied or something. Be proactive. But you don't have to have it all figured out before you file that initial claim. Just file, and let them make the decisions.
