and had held a type or class rating valid within the preceding 5 years
Maybe that's why I had to do a (more or less) PPL skills test. I left it for 6 years. I got the original PPL in 2001, didn't renew it in 2006, and when I came to "recover it" in ~2008 I had to do the skills test. Are you saying this wasn't needed?
The only revals I did were in 2002 (IMCR skills test) and one in 2004.
I had the FAA papers since 2004.
Regarding using the IR renewal (with some additional VFR work) for the PPL reval, it would seem to me that this is a private matter between you and the IRE - unless some regulation states that you have to actually land between the two.