diff --git a/app/templates/views/choose-template.html b/app/templates/views/choose-template.html
index e3d11ed02..3742638be 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/choose-template.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/choose-template.html
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
     {% if current_user.has_permissions(['manage_templates']) %}
       <a href="{{ url_for('.add_service_template', service_id=service_id, template_type=template_type) }}" class="button">Add a new template</a>
+    {% else %}
+      <div class="column-two-thirds">You need to ask your service manager to add templates before you can send messages</div>
     {% endif %}
 
   {% else %}