Hi. What country are you from? There is little chance of people being returned to certain countries, so waiting for the Legacy case exercise may be a good policy. As you say, your existing leave reamins in force until a decision is made, you are allowed to work or claim benefits.
You cannot apply to be considered as a legacy case unless there are very exceptional circumstances; you will simply have to wait for your turn (could be a
long wait).
As I understand it, you have no particular grounds for applying for ILR. A more realistic option might be a fresh claim for asylum using substantial new evidence that was not available at the time. Not sure how this would affect your current application and status, you need to get further advice.
For info about the legacy case exercise try
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... gammefaqs/
and
http://www.ncadc.org.uk/archives/filed% ... gacy2.html
The Refused are coming day-by-day nearer to freedom.