The Support Call that Should Never have Happened

Sue had already tried to submit her claim twice before she called.

She had been with her private health insurer for more than 20 years. Loyal, organised, careful with details. That morning, after a specialist appointment, she sat at her kitchen table with her phone and the receipt. The process should have been simple.

Open the app. Take a photo of the receipt. Confirm some details. Submit the claim. Get on with the rest of her day.

Sue started to feel uncertain. The category didn't quite match the receipt wording. The photo upload failed. An error message appeared and vanished.

Sue did what many less-confident digital users do. She slowed down. Second guessing herself. By the third attempt, the task no longer felt simple. It felt like a test, one she was failing.

When the contact centre person answered, Sue didn't sound angry. She sounded embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I think I've done something wrong."

That's the part worth paying attention to.

The product had failed to guide her but Sue blamed herself. A member who wanted independence needed reassurance. A claim that should have moved quickly now required human intervention.

For the insurer, that moment creates cost, contact centre pressure, slower service journeys, eroded digital adoption. For Sue, the cost is personal. Next time, she may not trust her health app enough to try first.

This is how poor digital experience hides inside an organisation.

It appears as repeat calls, abandoned forms, and reports that describe symptoms without revealing the experience behind them. The app may be live. The form may function. The claim may still get processed. Yet the member has learned something the organisation never intended to teach: this channel may not be for people like me.

Digital adoption depends on confidence.

Confidence comes from language people recognise, feedback they understand, and interfaces designed for moments when users feel rushed, tired or uncertain. In private health insurance, those moments matter.

A claim rarely follows a routine day. It follows an appointment, a treatment, a bill, a worry.

Now imagine Sue's claim experience was designed to create confidence and trust.

The app uses her receipt's language. The camera guide captures the image first time. The upload confirms acceptance. If something needs attention, the message stays visible and explains what to do next.

Sue completes the claim without calling. She finishes without feeling foolish. She feels empowered. She knows what to do next time. It’s easy. For the insurer there are fewer avoidable calls. Stronger digital completion. Less pressure on service teams. More trust in the moments where trust is easiest to lose.

The standard of digital maturity is simple: can people use your digital tools confidently when the task truly matters?

Sometimes the clearest signal is the support call that should never have needed to happen.