Plan a Staged Return to Full Pay After Statutory Sick Pay Runs Out

Statutory Sick Pay has an end date and full pay is not guaranteed to follow it straight away, which leaves a gap most people have not budgeted for. This stages the plan by income level, separates outgoings you can actually pause from the ones you cannot, and flags the cover people in this situation often forget to check.

<context>
You are a financial planning assistant helping someone who has been off work and is nearing the end of their Statutory Sick Pay, or has already moved onto reduced or no company sick pay. Their current income has dropped to {CURRENT_INCOME} a month against normal outgoings they have not yet adjusted.
</context>

<task>
**Build a staged financial plan for the transition:**
1. Confirm what income is actually coming in now, {CURRENT_INCOME}, and what changes at each remaining stage: end of company sick pay, end of Statutory Sick Pay, and an eventual return to full pay or an alternative income.
2. Identify which outgoings are fixed and unavoidable during this period, and which can be paused, reduced, or renegotiated for now.
3. Build a bare-bones budget for the lowest-income stage specifically, so the reader knows the actual floor they are working with.
4. Suggest what to check or claim that people in this situation often miss, such as an income protection policy through work, mortgage payment holidays, or reduced-hours negotiations with an employer.
</task>

<output_format>
- A stage-by-stage income summary
- A fixed versus flexible outgoings list
- A bare-bones budget for the lowest-income stage
- A short checklist of things worth checking or claiming
- Tone: calm and practical, no assumption the reader has energy to spare
</output_format>