diff --git a/app/main/views/send.py b/app/main/views/send.py
index 1ae378123..7595ac627 100644
--- a/app/main/views/send.py
+++ b/app/main/views/send.py
@@ -112,17 +112,9 @@ def send_messages(service_id, template_id):
     form = CsvUploadForm()
     if form.validate_on_submit():
         try:
-            file_data = Spreadsheet.from_file(form.file.data, filename=form.file.data.filename).as_dict
-            if template.template_type == 'letter':
-                def is_ascii(s):
-                    return all(ord(c) < 128 for c in s)
-
-                if is_ascii(str(file_data)) is False:
-                    raise ValueError("Invalid characters in {}".format(form.file.data.filename))
-
             upload_id = s3upload(
                 service_id,
-                file_data,
+                Spreadsheet.from_file(form.file.data, filename=form.file.data.filename).as_dict,
                 current_app.config['AWS_REGION']
             )
             session['upload_data'] = {
@@ -137,10 +129,6 @@ def send_messages(service_id, template_id):
             flash('Couldn’t read {}. Try using a different file format.'.format(
                 form.file.data.filename
             ))
-        except ValueError:
-            flash('Invalid characters in the address fields within {}.'.format(
-                form.file.data.filename
-            ))
 
     column_headings = first_column_headings[template.template_type] + list(template.placeholders)
 
diff --git a/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py b/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py
index d3408678b..401bf0490 100644
--- a/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py
+++ b/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py
@@ -1529,7 +1529,7 @@ def test_check_messages_shows_over_max_row_error(
     )
 
 
-def test_special_characters_in_dvla_recipients_file_shows_error(
+def test_special_characters_in_letter_recipients_file_shows_error(
     logged_in_client,
     mock_get_users_by_service,
     mock_get_service,
@@ -1543,20 +1543,25 @@ def test_special_characters_in_dvla_recipients_file_shows_error(
     mock_recipients = mocker.patch('app.utils.Spreadsheet.from_file').return_value
     mock_recipients.as_dict = {
             'file_name': 'invalid_characters.csv', 'data':
-            'address line 1,address line 2,address line 3,address line 4,address line 5,address line 6,postcode\r\n'\
+            'address line 1,address line 2,address line 3,address line 4,address line 5,address line 6,postcode\r\n'
             'B. √Name,345 Example Street,,,,,ZM4 6HQ©'
         }
 
     response = logged_in_client.post(
         url_for('main.send_messages', service_id=SERVICE_ONE_ID, template_id=fake_uuid),
         data={'file': (None, 'invalid_characters.csv')},
+        follow_redirects=True
     )
 
     assert response.status_code == 200
     page = BeautifulSoup(response.data.decode('utf-8'), 'html.parser')
     assert ' '.join(
         page.find('div', class_='banner-dangerous').text.split()
-    ) == 'Invalid characters in the address fields within invalid_characters.csv.'
+    ) == (
+            'There is a problem with your data '
+            'You need to fix 1 address '
+            'Skip to file contents'
+        )
 
 
 def test_check_messages_redirects_if_no_upload_data(logged_in_client, service_one, mocker):