I hated making that decision as well, so I didn't really. You probably don't need to either, at least not right away.

Most disability plans have a person off on STD disability first, then LTD for the longer term. The "longer term" may be up to 24 months, depending on your policy. At 24 months, they will often do a very in-depth assessment, at which time you will need to prove you can no longer work at all; not part-time, not at ANY job, and/or not a job where you could earn even 50% of your previous wages (and hence be cut off disability payments). If you can't, then you go on "permanent LTD" . . .

Every plan is different, but it's not usually as cut and dry as you go off work and you are not required to prove "need" at some time in the future. This is especially true with the plans that pay you disability for life . . .

There will also likely be the need to apply for government disability (SSDI, or whatever it is called in the US) and this payment may be deducted from anything you recieve from your disability carrier. If there is a back-payment of this gov disability, you may need to repay this to your insurance company.

So, although this sounds very easy at the moment, there may be many "YIELD" and "STOP" signs along the way. At any point in that process, you (and your doctor) may decide that you are much better and you want to give it another shot in the workforce. Most companies have to keep your job "open" (only temporarily filled) for 24 months, so that you may step back into it if you can.

That is the way I looked at it in the beginning (there was always a "Plan A" to return to work, if possible), and it helped me to make the transition easier.

Cherie