Can I hire a plumber if British Gas keeps delaying repairs?

Hello, I’ve been having a lot of issues lately with British Gas and looking to see if anyone’s managed to get around their wall of useless customer service.

My tenants (a family with young kids) have been left with a leaking hot water cylinder. BG came out, confirmed it’s dead and needs replacing, and then hit me with a four-week wait for a standard part and install.

They’ve thrown a couple of portable heaters at the problem, but the family is still having to constantly toggle the mains off to stop the place flooding, meaning barely any hot water.

Every time I call for an update, the promised dates have moved, and they’re actively refusing to escalate to a manager because “there’s already an open complaint.”

I’m ready to just hire a local plumber and fight BG for the bill via the Ombudsman, but I don’t want to blow up my policy warranty.

Has anyone actually managed to get HomeCare to pull their finger out, or should I just get it fixed privately?

Thank you,

H