Dear Colin Thomas,
For this issue, maybe have some problems when you set up email settings. Please open Administrator-> Global Configuration-> Mail settings. And follow the instructions:
Guide:*
Mailer → SMTP
From Email → Your email address
yours@gmail.com
From Name → Your site name or your name Administrator of This Site
Sendmail Path → This should already be present if not it needs to be /usr/sbin/sendmail
SMTP Authentication → Select Yes
SMTP Security → SSL
SMTP Port → 465 (If SSL port 465 does not work for you try and use port 587 instead)
SMTP Username → Your email address
yours@gmail.com
SMTP Password → Your email password
SMTP Host → smtp.gmail.com
After adjusting the settings click "Save and Close". Now you can go to contact form and send email. Be sure to test your Joomla site and ensure emails are sending properly.
Thanks!