diff --git a/hosting/templates/hosting/includes/_messages.html b/hosting/templates/hosting/includes/_messages.html
index 12540558..e9a3e681 100644
--- a/hosting/templates/hosting/includes/_messages.html
+++ b/hosting/templates/hosting/includes/_messages.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% if messages %}
     <ul class="list-unstyled msg-list">
     {% for message in messages %}
-        <div class="alert {% if message.tags and message.tags == 'error' %} alert-danger {% else %} alert-{{message.tags}} {% endif %}">{{ message|safe }}</div>
+        <div class="alert {% if message.tags and (message.tags == 'error' or message.tags == 'vat_error') %} alert-danger {% else %} alert-{{message.tags}} {% endif %}">{{ message|safe }}</div>
     {% endfor %}
     </ul>
 {% endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hosting/views.py b/hosting/views.py
index e88e0f2a..aeca6ada 100644
--- a/hosting/views.py
+++ b/hosting/views.py
@@ -642,7 +642,8 @@ class SettingsView(LoginRequiredMixin, FormView):
                     )
                     if 'error' in validate_result and validate_result['error']:
                         messages.add_message(
-                            request, messages.ERROR, validate_result["error"],
+                            request, messages.ERROR,
+                            "VAT Number validation error: %s" % validate_result["error"],
                             extra_tags='vat_error'
                         )
                     else: