For those reading along this thread after the event - and following in jxk's pedantry....
I was told by a (then) senior CAA staffer that the signature on your licence page (FCL150) was the required document. The "paperwork to the CAA" is just to keep their records up to date but is not the definitive article (as they have been known to simply throw them away on receipt - without updating the records first).
You must get that page signed by an authorised person before the expiry date of the relevant rating - otherwise it's a test.
I'm also not convinced that you (tuscan) were partly to blame for the expiry of the licence....you were COMPLETELY to blame.
You are responsible for keeping it current, you suggest you knew the rules but chose not to enforce them upon yourself. It's not an examiners job to come to you and ask if your licence needs signing.
It would, however, be a darned good service if a flight school or club kept a database of licences and ratings and offered to remind you of looming expiration dates.
I say again - not an attack on tuscan - just a heads up for future readers of the thread.