[QUOTE He advised IMC is for getting out of bad weather rather than deliberately flying in it][/QUOTE]
I would say that very much depends on how much you actually use it once you have it, used regularly it is fine to deliberately fly in it, but then again if you don't use it regularly you are probably not safe to be using it the time you actually need it!
if you are not going to use an IMC rating (or IR(R)) then an aeros course will do far more for your handling skills!