Thanks but I am getting the feeling that what I am trying to do may not actually be possible using a single profile,which was my goal...even using your plugin. What I really wanted was the form to display the recipient in the email list field (as the default selection) that corresponds with the recipient I have nominated in the plugin link... but I found that if I use {aicontactsafelink text=Contact Sales|pf=3|aics_sendto=Sales} the email list field still shows the first recipient in the email list rather than Sales (which may be say the third recipient in the list).

Ok new tack...this might be an easier approach...?

If I can just make the first option in the email list an invalid selection (eg something like "Please select a recipient") then it would at least ensure the user is required to select a recipient. That way I can at least stay with one profile.

So at the risk of changing topic, how do I make the first option in an email list field invalid?

PS: My comment wasn't meant as a criticism of your explanation, was just requesting more detail as I was finding it hard to grasp. Your form extension is by far the best I have ever used in Joomla. Thanks again

I think you didn't understood how to use aiContactSafeLink. Sorry I missed your example and didn't corrected it on time. The plugin code has to contain "aics_sendto=3" ( 3 being the position in the email list you want to be selected ) and not the text "Sales". That should fix the problem you are having now.

Anyway, just to answer your other question, you can set the default value of the email list field to "Please select" or something similar ( in the parameters of the field ) and set the field to be required.
This way no value is selected by default and the field has to select something in it.