Your LTD policy will state when you are required to apply for SSDI. It's often 6 months. In most cases you can choose any SSDI attorney or non attorney rep and your insurance company pays it or to be specific, the legal help is paid directly from SS and the insurance is shorted that amount in backpay. You and your dependent can only receive 12 months of retro benefits from the month you file. There is also a 5 month waiting period before eligibility, so you don't want to delay past 17 months from when you stopped working. You'll have to check and see if your policy includes your daughter's benefits as well. If not, she could receive as much as 50% of your benefit. So if you receive $1400 per month, she would receive up to $700 per month. And also keep in mind Medicare eligibility begins after 24 months.

The service the insurance company will offer are generally national which they pay at a discounted rate and you can't choose your rep. It's best to choose someone local since they know the ALJ's and local policies. You really don't need one until the hearing stage anyway, but if you want to start out with help I'd recommend a non attorney rep. If you wait, an attorney is probably the better choice. So, don't feel like you must use their service.

CRPS doesn't have it's own impairment Listing, which can make approvals take a few years. If you still use a walker to ambulate, your impairment/s could equal a Listing and mean a fast approval.

If I can provide you any links or help answer questions, shoot me a pm.