diff --git a/app/main/forms.py b/app/main/forms.py
index 34a6d8616..eb60cc8f4 100644
--- a/app/main/forms.py
+++ b/app/main/forms.py
@@ -502,7 +502,11 @@ class ServiceSmsSender(Form):
 
 
 class ServiceLetterContactBlock(Form):
-    letter_contact_block = TextAreaField()
+    letter_contact_block = TextAreaField(
+        validators=[
+            NoCommasInPlaceHolders()
+        ]
+    )
 
     def validate_letter_contact_block(form, field):
         line_count = field.data.strip().count('\n')
diff --git a/app/main/views/service_settings.py b/app/main/views/service_settings.py
index d891164ea..e8a32fc1b 100644
--- a/app/main/views/service_settings.py
+++ b/app/main/views/service_settings.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ from flask_login import (
     login_required,
     current_user
 )
+
+from notifications_utils.field import Field
 from notifications_python_client.errors import HTTPError
 
 from app import service_api_client
@@ -46,7 +48,8 @@ def service_settings(service_id):
         organisation=organisation,
         letter_branding=letter_branding_organisations.get(
             current_service.get('dvla_organisation', '001')
-        )
+        ),
+        letter_contact_block=Field(current_service['letter_contact_block'], html='escape')
     )
 
 
diff --git a/app/templates/views/service-settings.html b/app/templates/views/service-settings.html
index 153069c93..1bca9cf33 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/service-settings.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/service-settings.html
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
           {% call row() %}
             {{ text_field('Letter contact details') }}
             {% call field(status='' if current_service.letter_contact_block else 'default') %}
-              {{ current_service.letter_contact_block | escape | nl2br | safe }}
+              {{ letter_contact_block | string | nl2br | safe if current_service.letter_contact_block else 'None'}}
             {% endcall %}
             {{ edit_field('Change', url_for('.service_set_letter_contact_block', service_id=current_service.id)) }}
           {% endcall %}
diff --git a/app/templates/views/service-settings/set-letter-contact-block.html b/app/templates/views/service-settings/set-letter-contact-block.html
index c33121942..ddd46ffe6 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/service-settings/set-letter-contact-block.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/service-settings/set-letter-contact-block.html
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
         label='How should users contact your service?<br>This applies to all the letters you send.'|safe,
         hint='10 lines maximum',
         width='1-1',
-        rows=10
+        rows=10,
+        highlight_tags=True
       ) }}
       {{ page_footer(
         'Save',
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 738e5f12f..98ed8f5bf 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -28,4 +28,4 @@ notifications-python-client>=3.1,<3.2
 awscli>=1.11,<1.12
 awscli-cwlogs>=1.4,<1.5
 
-git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-utils.git@17.0.1#egg=notifications-utils==17.0.1
+git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-utils.git@17.1.2#egg=notifications-utils==17.1.2