I apologise for butting in, but there does appear to be a major confusion between VFR and VMC as well as between IFR and IMC. I'm not a pilot so I do not have the fine detailed knowledge of your PPL. As far as I understand it (and I apologise if I am totally wrong) the basic PPL allows you to fly in conditions that are clear of cloud and in sight of the surface (with a forward vis of [I assume] 5km). These just happen to be the Visual Flight Rules for an aircraft with a filed airspeed of <140kts and below 3000'.
In legal terms (which I accept are not necessarily the same as your licence priveleges):-
Anybody can fly IFR as long as you remain in VMC.
You can fly IFR in VMC, but you can't fly VFR in IMC.
Don't confuse the flight rules that you are flying under with the met conditions you are flying in. One of the more irritating aspects of being an ATCO is asking a pilot his flight rules (to establish the services we can offer and to know the level of separation we have to apply) and then getting the response "G-CD is currently VMC."
Don't forget you can ask for a radar advisory service (RAS) whilst flying in VMC as long as you are flying under the instrument flight rules (ie IFR). However, you may be given vectors that you will not be able to accept (eg they will take you into cloud) if you are restricted to remaining clear of cloud/in sight of the suface, so defeating the object of the RAS in the first place.